Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious (French: le Victorieux)[1] or the Well-Served (French: le Bien-Servi), was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461.

With his court removed to Bourges, south of the Loire River, Charles was disparagingly called the “King of Bourges”, because the area around this city was one of the few remaining regions left to him. However, his political and military position improved dramatically with the emergence of Joan of Arc as a spiritual leader in France. Joan of Arc and other charismatic figures led French troops to lift the siege of Orléans, as well as other strategic cities on the Loire river, and to crush the English at the battle of Patay, with the local English troops dispersed, the people of Reims switched allegiance and opened their gates, which enabled the coronation of Charles VII in 1429 at Reims Cathedral. This long-awaited event boosted French morale as hostilities with England resumed. Following the battle of Castillon in 1453, the French had expelled the English from all their continental possessions except for the Pale of Calais.

The last years of Charles VII were marked by conflicts with his turbulent son, the future Louis XI of France.

Almost immediately after his accession to the title of Dauphin, Charles had to face threats to his inheritance, and he was forced to flee from Paris on 29 May 1418 after the partisans of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, had entered the city the previous night.[2] By 1419, Charles had established his own court in Bourges and a Parlement in Poitiers,[2] on 11 July of that same year, Charles and John the Fearless attempted a reconciliation by signing, on a small bridge near Pouilly-le-Fort, not far from Melun where Charles was staying, the Treaty of Pouilly-le-Fort known also under name of Paix du Ponceau (ponceau from French pont, "bridge", is a small one-span bridge thrown over a stream).[3] They also decided that a further meeting should take place the following 10 September, on that date, they met on the bridge at Montereau.[4] The Duke assumed that the meeting would be entirely peaceful and diplomatic, thus he brought only a small escort with him, the Dauphin's men reacted to the Duke's arrival by attacking and killing him. Charles' level of involvement has remained uncertain to this day, although he claimed to have been unaware of his men's intentions, this was considered unlikely by those who heard of the murder.[1] The assassination marked the end of any attempt of a reconciliation between the two factions Armagnacs and Burgundians, thus playing into the hands of Henry V of England. Charles was later required by a treaty with Philip the Good, the son of John the Fearless, to pay penance for the murder, which he never did.

At the death of his father, Charles VI, the succession was cast into doubt, the Treaty of Troyes, signed by Charles VI in 1420, mandated that the throne pass to the infant King Henry VI of England, the son of the recently deceased Henry V and Catherine of Valois, daughter of Charles VI; however, Frenchmen loyal to the king of France regarded the treaty as invalid on grounds of coercion and Charles VI's diminished mental capacity. For those who did not recognize the treaty and believed the Dauphin Charles to be of legitimate birth, he was considered to be the rightful heir to the throne, for those who did not recognize his legitimacy, the rightful heir was recognized as Charles, Duke of Orléans, cousin of the Dauphin, who was in English captivity. Only the supporters of Henry VI and the Dauphin Charles were able to enlist sufficient military force to press effectively for their candidates, the English, already in control of northern France, were able to enforce the claim of their king in the regions of France that they occupied. Northern France, including Paris, was thus ruled by an English regent, Henry V's brother, John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, based in Normandy (see Dual monarchy of England and France).

In his adolescent years, Charles was noted for his bravery and flamboyant style of leadership, at one point after becoming Dauphin, he led an army against the English dressed in the red, white, and blue that represented his family;[citation needed] his heraldic device was a mailed fist clutching a naked sword. However, in July 1421, upon learning that Henry V was preparing from Mantes to attack with a much larger army, he withdraw from the siege of Chartres in order to avoid defeat,[5] he then went south of the Loire River under the protection of Yolande of Aragon, known as "Queen of the Four Kingdoms" and, on 22 April 1422, married her daughter, Marie of Anjou,[6] to whom he had been engaged since December 1413 in a ceremony at the Louvre Palace.

Charles, unsurprisingly, claimed the title King of France for himself, but he failed to make any attempts to expel the English from northern France out of indecision and a sense of hopelessness[citation needed] Instead, he remained south of the Loire River, where he was still able to exert power, and maintained an itinerant court in the Loire Valley at castles such as Chinon, he was still customarily known as "Dauphin," or derisively as "King of Bourges," after the town where he generally lived. Periodically, he considered flight to the Iberian Peninsula, which would have allowed the English to advance their occupation of France.

Political conditions in France took a decisive turn in the year 1429 just as the prospects for the Dauphin began to look hopeless, the town of Orléans had been under siege since October 1428. The English regent, the Duke of Bedford (the uncle of Henry VI), was advancing into the Duchy of Bar, ruled by Charles's brother-in-law, René, the French lords and soldiers loyal to Charles were becoming increasingly desperate. Then in the little village of Domrémy, on the border of Lorraine and Champagne, a teenage girl named Joan of Arc (French: Jeanne d'Arc), demanded that the garrison commander at Vaucouleurs, Robert de Baudricourt, collect the soldiers and resources necessary to bring her to the Dauphin at Chinon,[7] stating that visions of angels and saints had given her a divine mission. Granted an escort of five veteran soldiers and a letter of referral to Charles by Lord Baudricourt, Joan rode to see Charles at Chinon, she arrived on 23 February 1429.[7]

What followed would become famous. When Joan appeared at Chinon, Charles wanted to test her claim to be able to recognise him despite never having seen him, and so he disguised himself as one of his courtiers, he stood in their midst when Joan entered the chamber in which the court was assembled. Joan identified Charles immediately, she bowed low to him and embraced his knees, declaring "God give you a happy life, sweet King!" Despite attempts to claim that another man was in fact the king, Charles was eventually forced to admit that he was indeed such. Thereafter Joan referred to him as "Dauphin" or "Noble Dauphin" until he was crowned in Reims four months later, after a private conversation between the two (Charles later stated that Joan knew secrets about him that he had voiced only in silent prayer to God), Charles became inspired and filled with confidence.

After her encounter with Charles in March 1429, Joan of Arc set out to lead the French forces at Orléans, she was aided by skilled commanders such as Étienne de Vignolles, known as La Hire, and Jean Poton de Xaintrailles. They compelled the English to lift the siege on 8 May 1429, thus turning the tide of the war, the French won the Battle of Patay on 18 June, at which the English field army lost about half its troops. After pushing further into English and Burgundian-controlled territory, Charles was crowned King Charles VII of France in Reims Cathedral on 17 July 1429.

Joan was later captured by the Burgundians at the siege of Compiègne on 24 May 1430, the Burgundians handed her over to their English allies. Tried for heresy by a court composed of pro-English clergy such as Pierre Cauchon, who had long served the English occupation government,[8] she was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431.

Nearly as important as Joan of Arc in the cause of Charles was the support of the powerful and wealthy family of his wife Marie d'Anjou, particularly his mother-in-law, Queen Yolande of Aragon, but whatever affection he may have had for his wife, or whatever gratitude he may have felt for the support of her family, the great love of Charles VII's life was his mistress, Agnès Sorel.

Charles VII and Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, then signed the 1435 Treaty of Arras, by which the Burgundian faction rejected their English alliance and became reconciled with Charles VII, just as things were going badly for their English allies, with this accomplishment, Charles attained the essential goal of ensuring that no Prince of the Blood recognised Henry VI as King of France.[9]

Over the following two decades, the French recaptured Paris from the English and eventually recovered all of France with the exception of the northern port of Calais.

Charles' later years were marked by hostile relations with his heir, Louis, who demanded real power to accompany his position as the Dauphin. Charles consistently refused him. Accordingly, Louis stirred up dissent and fomented plots in attempts to destabilise his father's reign, he quarrelled with his father's mistress, Agnès Sorel, and on one occasion drove her with a bared sword into Charles' bed, according to one source. Eventually, in 1446, after Charles' last son, also named Charles, was born, the king banished the Dauphin to the Dauphiny, the two never met again. Louis thereafter refused the king's demands to return to court, and he eventually fled to the protection of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1456.

In 1458, Charles became ill. A sore on his leg (an early symptom, perhaps, of diabetes or another condition) refused to heal, and the infection in it caused a serious fever, the king summoned Louis to him from his exile in Burgundy, but the Dauphin refused to come. He employed astrologers to foretell the exact hour of his father's death, the king lingered on for the next two and a half years, increasingly ill, but unwilling to die. During this time he also had to deal with the case of his rebellious vassal John V of Armagnac.

Finally, however, there came a point in July 1461 when the king's physicians concluded that Charles would not live past August. Ill and weary, the king became delirious, convinced that he was surrounded by traitors loyal only to his son. Under the pressure of sickness and fever, he went mad. By now another infection in his jaw had caused a tumor or abscess in his mouth, the swelling caused by this became so large that, for the last week of his life, Charles was unable to swallow food or water. Although he asked the Dauphin to come to his deathbed, Louis refused, instead waiting at Avesnes, in Burgundy, for his father to die, at Mehun-sur-Yèvre, attended by his younger son, Charles, and aware of his elder son's final betrayal, the King starved to death. He died on 22 July 1461, and was buried, at his request, beside his parents in Saint-Denis.

Although Charles VII's legacy is far overshadowed by the deeds and eventual martyrdom of Joan of Arc and his early reign was at times marked by indecisiveness and inaction, he was responsible for successes unprecedented in the history of the Kingdom of France, he succeeded in what four generations of his predecessors failed to do — the expulsion of the English and the conclusion of the Hundred Years' War.

1.
Jean Fouquet
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Jean Fouquet was a preeminent French painter of the 15th century, a master of both panel painting and manuscript illumination, and the apparent inventor of the portrait miniature. He was the first French artist to travel to Italy and experience first-hand the early Italian Renaissance, little is known of his life, but it is certain that he was in Italy before 1447, when he executed a portrait of Pope Eugene IV, who died that year. He worked for the French court, including Charles VII, the treasurer Étienne Chevalier, near the end of his career, he became court painter to Louis XI. His work can be associated with the French courts attempt to solidify French national identity in the wake of its struggle with England in the Hundred Years War. One example is when Fouquet depicts Charles VII as one of the three magi and this is one of the very few portraits of the king. According to some sources, the other two magi are the Dauphin Louis, future Louis XI, and his brother, far more numerous are his illuminated books and miniatures. The Musée Condé in Chantilly contains forty miniatures from the Hours of Étienne Chevalier, Fouquet also illuminated a copy of the Grandes Chroniques de France, for an unknown patron, thought to be either Charles VII or someone else at the royal court. Also from Fouquets hand are eleven of the fourteen miniatures illustrating a translation of Josephus at the Bibliothèque Nationale, the Melun Diptych One of Fouquets most important paintings is the Melun Diptych, formerly in Melun cathedral. The left wing of the diptych depicts Étienne Chevalier with his patron saint St. Stephen, the right wing shows a pale Virgin and Child surrounded by red and blue angels and is now at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp. Since at least the seventeenth century, the Virgin has been recognized as a portrait of Agnès Sorel, the Louvre has his oil portraits of Charles VII, of Count Wilczek, and of Guillaume Jouvenel des Ursins, and a portrait drawing in crayon. Melun Diptych Book of Hours of Simon de Varie Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Foucquet, world Digital Library presentation of Antiquités judaïques or Jewish Antiquities. Illuminated parchment manuscripts recount the history of the Jewish people from Creation to the outbreak of the Jewish revolt against the Romans in A. D.66

2.
Tempera
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Tempera, also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium. Tempera also refers to the paintings done in this medium, Tempera paintings are very long lasting, and examples from the 1st centuries AD still exist. Egg tempera was a method of painting until after 1500 when it was superseded by the invention of oil painting. Tempera painting has been found on early Egyptian sarcophagi decorations, many of the Fayum mummy portraits use tempera, sometimes in combination with encaustic. A related technique has been used also in ancient and early medieval paintings found in several caves, high-quality art with the help of tempera was created in Bagh Caves between the late 4th and 10th centuries AD and in the 7th century AD in Ravan Chhaya rock shelter, Orissa. Tempera painting was the panel painting medium for nearly every painter in the European Medieval. For example, every surviving panel painting by Michelangelo is egg tempera, oil paint, which may have originated in Afghanistan between the 5th and 9th centuries and migrated westward in the Middle Ages eventually superseded tempera. Oil replaced tempera as the medium used for creating artwork during the 15th century in Early Netherlandish painting in northern Europe. Around 1500, oil paint replaced tempera in Italy, in the 19th and 20th centuries, there were intermittent revivals of tempera technique in Western art, among the Pre-Raphaelites, Social Realists, and others. Tempera painting continues to be used in Greece and Russia where it is the medium for Orthodox icons. Tempera is traditionally created by hand-grinding dry powdered pigments into an agent or medium, such as egg, glue, honey, water, milk. Tempera painting starts with placing an amount of the powdered pigment onto a palette, dish or bowl and adding about an equal volume of the binder. Some pigments require slightly more binder, some require less, a few drops of distilled water are added, then the binder is added in small increments to the desired transparency. The more egg emulsion, the more transparent the paint, the most common form of classical tempera painting is egg tempera. For this form most often only the contents of the egg yolk is used, the white of the egg and the membrane of the yolk are discarded. Egg yolk is never used by itself with pigment, it dries almost immediately, some agent is always added, in variable proportions. One recipe calls for vinegar, other recipes suggest white wine, some schools of egg tempera use various mixtures of egg yolk and water. The paint mixture has to be adjusted to maintain a balance between a greasy and watery consistency by adjusting the amount of water and yolk

3.
Louvre Museum
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The Louvre or the Louvre Museum is the worlds largest museum and a historic monument in Paris, France. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the citys 1st arrondissement, approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited over an area of 72,735 square metres. The Louvre is the second most visited museum after the Palace Museum in China. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century under Philip II, remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to the expansion of the city, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function and. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace, in 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years, during the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nations masterpieces. The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801. The collection was increased under Napoleon and the museum renamed Musée Napoléon, the collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and bequests since the Third Republic, whether this was the first building on that spot is not known, it is possible that Philip modified an existing tower. According to the authoritative Grand Larousse encyclopédique, the name derives from an association with wolf hunting den, in the 7th century, St. Fare, an abbess in Meaux, left part of her Villa called Luvra situated in the region of Paris to a monastery. This territory probably did not correspond exactly to the modern site, the Louvre Palace was altered frequently throughout the Middle Ages. In the 14th century, Charles V converted the building into a residence and in 1546, Francis acquired what would become the nucleus of the Louvres holdings, his acquisitions including Leonardo da Vincis Mona Lisa. After Louis XIV chose Versailles as his residence in 1682, constructions slowed, however, on 14 October 1750, Louis XV agreed and sanctioned a display of 96 pieces from the royal collection, mounted in the Galerie royale de peinture of the Luxembourg Palace. Under Louis XVI, the museum idea became policy. The comte dAngiviller broadened the collection and in 1776 proposed conversion of the Grande Galerie of the Louvre – which contained maps – into the French Museum, many proposals were offered for the Louvres renovation into a museum, however, none was agreed on. Hence the museum remained incomplete until the French Revolution, during the French Revolution the Louvre was transformed into a public museum. In May 1791, the Assembly declared that the Louvre would be a place for bringing together monuments of all the sciences, on 10 August 1792, Louis XVI was imprisoned and the royal collection in the Louvre became national property

4.
Charles VI of France
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Charles VI, called the Beloved and the Mad, was King of France from 1380 to his death. He was a member of the House of Valois, Charles VI was only 11 when he inherited the throne in the midst of the Hundred Years War. The government was entrusted to his four uncles, Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, John, Duke of Berry, Louis I, Duke of Anjou, and Louis II, Duke of Bourbon. Although the royal age of majority was fixed at 14, the dukes maintained their grip on Charles until he took power at the age of 21, as royal funds drained, new taxes had to be raised, which caused several revolts. In 1388 Charles VI dismissed his uncles and brought back to power his fathers former advisers, political and economic conditions in the kingdom improved significantly, and Charles earned the epithet the Beloved. But in August 1392 en route to Brittany with his army in the forest of Le Mans, Charles suddenly went mad and slew four knights and almost killed his brother, from then on, Charles bouts of insanity became more frequent and of longer duration. During these attacks, he had delusions, believing he was made of glass or denying he had a wife and he could also attack servants or run until exhaustion, wailing that he was threatened by his enemies. Between crises, there were intervals of months during which Charles was relatively sane, however, unable to concentrate or make decisions, political power was taken away from him by the princes of the blood, which would cause much chaos and conflict in France. A fierce struggle for power developed between Louis of Orléans, the brother, and John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy. When John instigated the murder of Louis in November 1407, the conflict degenerated into a war between the Armagnacs and the Burgundians. John offered large parts of France to King Henry V of England, when Charles VI died, he was succeeded by his son Charles VII, who found the Valois cause in a desperate situation. Charles was born in Paris, in the residence of the Hôtel Saint-Pol, on 3 December 1368, the son of the king of France Charles V, of the House of Valois. As heir to the French throne, his brothers having died before he was born. At his fathers death on 16 September 1380, he inherited the throne of France and his coronation took place on 4 November 1380, at Reims Cathedral. Although the royal age of majority was 14, Charles did not terminate the regency and he married Isabeau of Bavaria on 17 July 1385, when he was 17 and she was 14. Isabeau had 12 children, most of whom died young, isabeaus first child, named Charles, was born in 1386, and was Dauphin of Viennois, but survived only 3 months. Her second child, Joan, was born on 14 June 1388 and her third child, Isabella, was born in 1389. She was married to Richard II, King of England in 1396, at the age of 6, Richard died in 1400 and they had no children

Charles VI of France
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Charles VI of France by the painter known as the Master of Boucicaut (1412).
Charles VI of France
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The coronation of Charles VI
Charles VI of France
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Charles seized by madness in the forest of Le Mans
Charles VI of France
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A coin of Charles VI, a "double d'or", minted in La Rochelle in 1420

5.
Saint Denis Basilica
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The Basilica of Saint Denis is a large medieval abbey church in the city of Saint-Denis, now a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of unique importance historically and architecturally as its choir, completed in 1144, the site originated as a Gallo-Roman cemetery in late Roman times. The archeological remains still lie beneath the cathedral, the people buried there seem to have had a faith that was a mix of Christian and pre-Christian beliefs, around 475 St. Genevieve purchased some land and built Saint-Denys de la Chapelle. In 636 on the orders of Dagobert I the relics of Saint Denis, the relics of St-Denis, which had been transferred to the parish church of the town in 1795, were brought back again to the abbey in 1819. Saint-Denis soon became the church of a growing monastic complex. In the 12th century the Abbot Suger rebuilt portions of the church using innovative structural. In doing so, he is said to have created the first truly Gothic building, the abbey church became a cathedral in 1966 and is the seat of the Bishop of Saint-Denis, Pascal Michel Ghislain Delannoy. Although known as the Basilica of St Denis, the cathedral has not been granted the title of Minor Basilica by the Vatican, Saint Denis, a patron saint of France, became the first bishop of Paris. A martyrium was erected on the site of his grave, which became a place of pilgrimage during the fifth and sixth centuries. Dagobert, the king of the Franks, refounded the church as the Abbey of Saint Denis, Dagobert also commissioned a new shrine to house the saints remains, which was created by his chief councillor, Eligius, a goldsmith by training. He composed a crest and a magnificent frontal and surrounded the throne of the altar with golden axes in a circle and he placed golden apples there, round and jeweled. He made a pulpit and a gate of silver and a roof for the throne of the altar on silver axes and he made a covering in the place before the tomb and fabricated an outside altar at the feet of the holy martyr. So much industry did he lavish there, at the kings request, the Basilica of St Denis ranks as an architectural landmark—as the first major structure of which a substantial part was designed and built in the Gothic style. Both stylistically and structurally, it heralded the change from Romanesque architecture to Gothic architecture, before the term Gothic came into common use, it was known as the French Style. As it now stands, the church is a cruciform building of basilica form. It has an aisle on the northern side formed of a row of chapels. The west front has three portals, a window and one tower, on the southern side. The eastern end, which is built over a crypt, is apsidal, surrounded by an ambulatory, the basilica retains stained glass of many periods, including exceptional modern glass, and a set of twelve misericords

Saint Denis Basilica
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West façade of Saint Denis
Saint Denis Basilica
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West façade of Saint Denis, before the dismantling of the north tower (c. 1844 – 1845)
Saint Denis Basilica
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15th-century painting by the Master of Saint Giles, showing St Denis saying mass before Charlemagne or Charles Martel with what is thought to be a largely accurate view of the abbey with a crux gemmata given by Charles the Bald and gold altar frontal, both destroyed in the Revolution.
Saint Denis Basilica
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The north transept rose features the Tree of Jesse.

6.
House of Valois
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The House of Valois was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. They succeeded the House of Capet to the French throne, and were the house of France from 1328 to 1589. Junior members of the family founded cadet branches in Orléans, Anjou, Burgundy, the Valois descended from Charles, Count of Valois, the second surviving son of King Philip III of France. Their title to the throne was based on a precedent in 1316, the Capetian dynasty seemed secure both during and after the reign of Philip IV from 1285 to 1313. Philip had left three surviving sons and a daughter, each son became king in turn but died young without male heirs, leaving only daughters who could not inherit the throne. When Charles IV died in 1328, the French succession became more problematic, in 1328 three candidates had plausible claims to the throne, Philip, Count of Valois, son of Charles of Valois, who was the closest heir in male line and a grandson of Philip III. Because his father was the brother of the late Philip IV, he was therefore a nephew of Philip IV, further, Charles IV had chosen him as the regent before his death. Philip, Count of Évreux, another nephew of Philip IV and he strengthened his position by marrying Joan of France, daughter of Louis X. Edward III of England, son of Isabella of France, daughter and only surviving child of Philip IV. Edward claimed to be the heir as a grandson of Philip IV, in England, Isabella of France claimed the throne on behalf of her son. Like the French, the English law of succession did not allow the succession of females, the French rejected Isabellas claims, arguing that since she herself, as a woman, could not succeed, then she could not transmit any such right to her son. Thus the French magnates chose Philip of Valois, who became Philip VI of France, the throne of Navarre went its separate way, to Joan of France, daughter of Louis X, who became Joan II of Navarre. Because diplomacy and negotiation had failed, Edward III would have to back his claims with force to obtain the French throne, for a few years, England and France maintained an uneasy peace. Eventually, an escalation of conflict between the two led to the confiscation of the duchy of Aquitaine. Instead of paying homage to the French king, as his ancestors had done and these events helped launch the Hundred Years War between England and France. The Hundred Years War could be considered a war of succession between the houses of Valois and Plantagenet. The early reign of Philip VI was a one for France. The new king fought the Flemings on behalf of his vassal, the count of Flanders, Edward IIIs aggression against Scotland, a French ally, prompted Philip VI to confiscate Guyenne. In the past the English kings would have to submit to the King of France, but Edward, having descended from the French kings, claimed the throne for himself

House of Valois
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Arms of the King of France since 1376

7.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth

French language
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The "arrêt" signs (French for "stop") are used in Canada while the international stop, which is also a valid French word, is used in France as well as other French-speaking countries and regions.
French language
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Regions where French is the main language
French language
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Town sign in Standard Arabic and French at the entrance of Rechmaya in Lebanon.
French language
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An obsolete 100 Lebanese pound note with the French language inscriptions "Banque du Liban" and "Cent livres".

8.
Kingdom of England
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In the early 11th century the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, united by Æthelstan, became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great, a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway. The completion of the conquest of Wales by Edward I in 1284 put Wales under the control of the English crown, from the accession of James I in 1603, the Stuart dynasty ruled England in personal union with Scotland and Ireland. Under the Stuarts, the kingdom plunged into war, which culminated in the execution of Charles I in 1649. The monarchy returned in 1660, but the Civil War had established the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without the consent of Parliament and this concept became legally established as part of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. From this time the kingdom of England, as well as its state the United Kingdom. On 1 May 1707, under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707, the Anglo-Saxons referred to themselves as the Engle or the Angelcynn, originally names of the Angles. They called their land Engla land, meaning land of the English, by Æthelweard Latinized Anglia, from an original Anglia vetus, the name Engla land became England by haplology during the Middle English period. The Latin name was Anglia or Anglorum terra, the Old French, by the 14th century, England was also used in reference to the entire island of Great Britain. The standard title for all monarchs from Æthelstan until the time of King John was Rex Anglorum, Canute the Great, a Dane, was the first king to call himself King of England. In the Norman period Rex Anglorum remained standard, with use of Rex Anglie. The Empress Matilda styled herself Domina Anglorum, from the time of King John onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of Rex or Regina Anglie. In 1604 James VI and I, who had inherited the English throne the previous year, the English and Scottish parliaments, however, did not recognise this title until the Acts of Union of 1707. The kingdom of England emerged from the unification of the early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdoms known as the Heptarchy, East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Essex, Sussex. The Viking invasions of the 9th century upset the balance of power between the English kingdoms, and native Anglo-Saxon life in general, the English lands were unified in the 10th century in a reconquest completed by King Æthelstan in 927 CE. During the Heptarchy, the most powerful king among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms might become acknowledged as Bretwalda, the decline of Mercia allowed Wessex to become more powerful. It absorbed the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex in 825, the kings of Wessex became increasingly dominant over the other kingdoms of England during the 9th century. In 827, Northumbria submitted to Egbert of Wessex at Dore, in 886, Alfred the Great retook London, which he apparently regarded as a turning point in his reign. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that all of the English people not subject to the Danes submitted themselves to King Alfred, asser added that Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, restored the city of London splendidly

Kingdom of England
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The dominions of Cnut the Great (1014–1035)
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King John signs Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215, surrounded by his baronage. Illustration from Cassell's History of England, 1902.
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Fifteenth-century miniature depicting the English victory over France at the Battle of Agincourt.

9.
Duchy of Burgundy
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Upon the extinction of the line with the death of Duke Philip I in 1361, the duchy fell back to King John II of France and the royal House of Valois. The Burgundian duchy rose to a complex of a European scale after in 1363 King John II of France ceded the duchy to his younger son Philip of Valois. By his marriage with Countess Margaret of Flanders, he laid the foundation for a Burgundian realm further north in the Low Countries collectively known as the Burgundian Netherlands. The Burgundian sphere, in its own right, was one of the largest ducal territories that existed at the time of the emergence of Early Modern Europe. Including the thriving regions of Flanders and Brabant, it was a centre of trade. After about one hundred years of Valois-Burgundy rule, however, the last duke Charles the Bold rushed to the Burgundian Wars and was killed in the 1477 Battle of Nancy. With the abdication of the Habsburg emperor Charles V in 1556, the Burgundians settled in the area around Dijon, Chalon-sur-Saône, Mâcon, Autun and Châtillon-sur-Seine, and gave the name to the region. The Kingdom of the Burgundians was annexed by the Merovingian Kings of the Franks Childebert I in 534 following their defeat by the Franks and it was recreated, however, on several occasions when Frankish territories were redivided between the sons on the death of a Frankish king. As part of the Kingdom of the Franks, Burgundy maintained a semi-autonomous existence, with the Burgundians maintaining their own law code, however, southern Burgundy was pillaged by the Saracen invasion of the 8th century. When Charles Martel drove the invaders out, he divided Burgundy into four commands, Arles-Burgundy, Vienne-Burgundy, Alamanic Burgundy and he appointed his brother Childebrand governor of Frankish Burgundy. Under the Carolingians, Burgundian separatism lessened and Burgundy became a geographical term. As a vital military defender of the West Frankish border, Guerin was sometimes known by the Latin term for leader – Dux or Duke, by the time of Richard the Justiciar, the Duchy of Burgundy was beginning to emerge. Richard was officially recognised by the king as a duke, he stood as individual count of each county he held. As Duke of Burgundy, he was able to wield an increasing amount of power over his territory, to the collective body of his territory there came to be applied the term ducatus. Included in the ducatus of Richard were the regions of Autunais, Beaunois, Avalois, Lassois, Dijonais, Memontois, Attuyer, Oscheret, under Richard, these territories were given law and order, protected from the Normans, and served as a haven for persecuted monks. It was from his territories in Burgundy that he drew the resources needed to fight those who challenged his right to rule, under Hugh the Black came the beginning of what would be a long and troubled saga for Burgundy. His neighbours were the Robertian family, who held the title of Duke of Francia and this family, wanting to improve their standing in France and against the Carolingian kings, attempted to subject the duchy to the suzerainty of their own duchy. They failed, eventually, when they appeared close to success, they were forced to scrap the scheme, two brothers of Hugh Capet, the first Capetian King of France, took up the rule of Burgundy as duke

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10.
Guyenne
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Guyenne or Guienne was an old French province which corresponded roughly to the Aquitania Secunda of the Romans and the archdiocese of Bordeaux. The name Guyenne comes from Aguyenne, a deformation of Aquitania. In the 12th century, it formed with the Gascony the duchy of Aquitaine which passed under the dominion of the kings of England by the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry II. In the 13th century, through the conquests of Philip II, Louis VIII and Louis IX and it is at this point that Guyenne became distinct from Aquitaine. It then comprised the Bordelais, the Bazadais, part of Périgord, Limousin, Quercy and Rouergue, still united with Gascony, it formed a duchy extending from the Charentes to the Pyrenees. At the treaty of Brétigny, King Edward III of England acquired the sovereignty of the duchy of Guyenne, together with Aunis, Saintonge, Angoumois. The victories of Bertrand du Guesclin and Gaston III, Count of Foix, in 1451, it was conquered and finally united to the French crown by Charles VII. In 1469, Louis XI gave it in exchange for Champagne and Brie to his brother Charles, Duke of Berry, after death in 1472. Guyenne then formed a government which from the 17th century onwards was united with Gascony, the government of Guyenne and Gascony, with its capital at Bordeaux, lasted till the end of the Ancien Régime. Under the French Revolution, the formed from Guyenne proper were those of Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne, Lot, Aveyron

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The gouvernement général of Guienne and Gascogne in 1733

11.
Bourges
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Bourges is a city in central France on the Yèvre river. It is the capital of the department of Cher and also was the capital of the province of Berry. The name of the city derives either from the Bituriges, the name of the inhabitants, or from the Germanic Burg. The Celts called it Avaricon, Latin-speakers, Avaricum, following the siege of Avaricum in the winter of 52 BC, Julius Caesars forces destroyed the city and killed all but 800 of its inhabitants. Rome reconstructed Avaricum as a Roman city, with a gate, aqueducts, thermae. The massive walls surrounding the late Roman city, enclosing 40 hectares, were built in part with stone re-used from earlier public buildings, the third-century AD Saint Ursinus, also known as Saint Ursin, is considered the first bishop of the city. Bourges is the seat of an archbishopric, during the 8th century Bourges lay on the northern fringes of the Duchy of Aquitaine and was therefore the first town to come under Frankish attacks when the Franks crossed the Loire. The Frankish Charles Martel captured the town in 731, but Duke Odo the Great of Aquitaine immediately re-took it, the Gothic Cathedral of Saint Etienne, begun at the end of the twelfth century, ranks as a World Heritage Site. It is considered as one of the earliest examples of the High Gothic style of the thirteenth century, during the Middle Ages, Bourges served as the capital of the Viscounty of Bourges until 1101. In the fourteenth century it became the capital of the Duchy of Berry, the future king of France, Charles VII, sought refuge there in the 1420s during the Hundred Years War. His son, Louis XI, was there in 1423. In 1438, Charles VII decreed the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges, during this period, Bourges was also a major capital of alchemy. The city has a tradition of art and history. Apart from the cathedral, other sites of importance include the 15th-century Palace of Jacques Cœur, Bourges sits at the river junction where the Auron flows into the Yèvre. The disused Canal de Berry follows alongside the course of the Auron through Bourges, the A71 motorway connects Bourges with Orléans and Clermont-Ferrand. Bourges Airport is a regional airport. Bourges principal football team are Bourges Football 18 and it is also home to the womens basketball club CJM Bourges Basket, which has won multiple titles in domestic and European basketball. Bourges XV is the rugby team in the region, currently playing in French National Division

12.
Joan of Arc
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Joan of Arc, nicknamed The Maid of Orléans, is considered a heroine of France for her role during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years War and was canonized as a Roman Catholic saint. Joan of Arc was born to Jacques dArc and Isabelle Romée, the uncrowned King Charles VII sent Joan to the siege of Orléans as part of a relief mission. She gained prominence after the siege was lifted nine days later. Several additional swift victories led to Charles VIIs coronation at Reims and this long-awaited event boosted French morale and paved the way for the final French victory. On 23 May 1430, she was captured at Compiègne by the Burgundian faction and she was later handed over to the English and put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais Pierre Cauchon on a variety of charges. After Cauchon declared her guilty she was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, in 1456, an inquisitorial court authorized by Pope Callixtus III examined the trial, debunked the charges against her, pronounced her innocent, and declared her a martyr. In the 16th century she became a symbol of the Catholic League and she was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. Cultural depictions of her have continued in films, theater, television, video games, music, the Hundred Years War had begun in 1337 as an inheritance dispute over the French throne, interspersed with occasional periods of relative peace. Nearly all the fighting had taken place in France, and the English armys use of chevauchée tactics had devastated the economy, the French population had not recovered to its size previous to the Black Death of the mid-14th century, and its merchants were isolated from foreign markets. Prior to the appearance of Joan of Arc, the English had nearly achieved their goal of a monarchy under English control. In the words of DeVries, The kingdom of France was not even a shadow of its thirteenth-century prototype, the French king at the time of Joans birth, Charles VI, suffered from bouts of insanity and was often unable to rule. The kings brother Louis, Duke of Orléans, and the kings cousin John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, quarreled over the regency of France and the guardianship of the royal children. This dispute included accusations that Louis was having an affair with the queen, Isabeau of Bavaria. The conflict climaxed with the assassination of the Duke of Orléans in 1407 on the orders of the Duke of Burgundy, the young Charles of Orléans succeeded his father as duke and was placed in the custody of his father-in-law, the Count of Armagnac. Their faction became known as the Armagnac faction, and the party led by the Duke of Burgundy was called the Burgundian faction. In 1418 Paris was taken by the Burgundians, who massacred the Count of Armagnac, the future French king, Charles VII, assumed the title of Dauphin—the heir to the throne—at the age of fourteen, after all four of his older brothers had died in succession. His first significant official act was to conclude a treaty with the Duke of Burgundy in 1419. This ended in disaster when Armagnac partisans assassinated John the Fearless during a meeting under Charless guarantee of protection, the new duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, blamed Charles for the murder and entered into an alliance with the English

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Painting, c. 1485. An artist's interpretation, since the only known direct portrait has not survived. (Centre Historique des Archives Nationales, Paris, AE II 2490)
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Joan's birthplace in Domrémy is now a museum. The village church where she attended Mass is on the right behind the trees.
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15th-century depiction of the Siege of Orléans, 1429
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Ruin of the great hall at Château de Chinon where she met the future King Charles VII. The castle's only remaining intact tower, now known as the 'Joan of Arc Tower', has been turned into a museum dedicated to her.

13.
Pale of Calais
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The Pale of Calais is a historical region in modern-day France that was controlled by the monarchs of England following the Battle of Crécy in 1346. Pale is an archaic English term for area, jurisdiction, the capture by the English is the subject of Auguste Rodins 1889 sculpture The Burghers of Calais. In 1558, the expanding Kingdom of France took the Pale of Calais in the aftermath of the Siege of Calais, Calais fell after the Battle of Crécy in 1346 to Edward III of England following a desperate siege. Its seizure gave him a defensible outpost where his army could regroup, by 1453, at the end of the Hundred Years War, it was the only part of mainland France to remain in English hands. While it was possible to resupply and defend Calais easily by sea, in the absence of any natural defence it depended on fortifications built up and maintained at some expense. However, its main defence had been both the French and the Burgundians coveted the city, but each preferred to see it under the English rather than their rival. Its loss was recognised under the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, in England there was shock and disbelief at the loss of this final Continental territory. The chronicler Raphael Holinshead reported that a few months later Mary, on her bed, told her family, When I am dead and opened. However the loss of the Pale of Calais was not as severe on the English economy as might have been expected, during the English occupation, the people of the Pale of Calais retained their identity as French and Flemish speakers. Furthermore, the French were continually reclaiming small pieces of the territory, much of the area of the Pale consisted of wetlands, and the territory was roughly divided into highlands in the west and lower country in the east. History of Calais Hundred Years War English overseas possessions English claims to the French throne The Pale of Ireland

14.
Capetian Dynasty
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The Capetian dynasty /kəˈpiːʃən/, also known as the House of France, is a dynasty of Frankish origin, founded by Hugh Capet. It is among the largest and oldest royal houses in Europe and the world, the senior line ruled in France as the House of Capet from the election of Hugh Capet in 987 until the death of Charles IV in 1328. They were succeeded by cadet branches, the Houses of Valois and Bourbon, the dynasty had a crucial role in the formation of the French state. Initially obeyed only in their own demesne, the Île-de-France, the Capetian kings slowly but steadily increased their power, for a detailed narration on the growth of French royal power, see Crown lands of France. Members of the dynasty were traditionally Catholic, the early Capetians had an alliance with the Church. The French were also the most active participants in the Crusades, culminating in a series of five Crusader Kings – Louis VII, Philip Augustus, Louis VIII, Saint Louis, the Capetian alliance with the papacy suffered a severe blow after the disaster of the Aragonese Crusade. Philip IIIs son and successor, Philip IV, humiliated a pope, the later Valois, starting with Francis I, ignored religious differences and allied with the Ottoman Sultan to counter the growing power of the Holy Roman Empire. Henry IV was a Protestant at the time of his accession, the Capetians generally enjoyed a harmonious family relationship. By tradition, younger sons and brothers of the King of France are given appanages for them to maintain their rank, when Capetian cadets did aspire for kingship, their ambitions were directed not at the French throne, but at foreign thrones. Through this, the Capetians spread widely over Europe, in modern times, both King Felipe VI of Spain and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg are members of this family, both through the Bourbon branch of the dynasty. Along with the House of Habsburg, it was one of the two most powerful continental European royal families, dominating European politics for five centuries. The name of the dynasty derives from its founder, Hugh, the meaning of Capet is unknown. While folk etymology identifies it with cape, other suggestions suggest it to be connected to the Latin word caput, historians in the 19th century came to apply the name Capetian to both the ruling house of France and to the wider-spread male-line descendants of Hugh Capet. It was not a contemporary practice, the name Capet has also been used as a surname for French royalty, particularly but not exclusively those of the House of Capet. One notable use was during the French Revolution, when the dethroned King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were referred to as Louis, the dynastic surname now used to describe Hugh Capets family prior to his election as King of France is Robertians or Robertines. The name is derived from the familys first certain ancestor, Robert the Strong, Robert was probably son of Robert III of Worms and grandson of Robert of Hesbaye. The Robertians probably originated in the county Hesbaye, around Tongeren in modern-day Belgium, the sons of Robert the Strong were Odo and Robert, who both ruled as king of Western Francia. The family became Counts of Paris under Odo and Dukes of the Franks under Robert, the Carolingian dynasty ceased to rule France upon the death of Louis V

15.
Charles V of France
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Charles V, called the Wise, was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1364 to his death. In 1349, as a prince, Charles received from his grandfather King Philip VI the province of Dauphiné to rule. This allowed him to bear the title Dauphin until his coronation, after 1350, all heirs apparent of France bore the title of Dauphin until their coronation. Charles became regent of France when his father John II was captured by the English at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. With the help of talented advisers known as the Marmousets, his management of the kingdom allowed him to replenish the royal treasury. He established the first permanent army paid with regular wages, which liberated the French populace from the companies of routiers who regularly plundered the country when not employed. Furthermore, the French Navy, led by Jean de Vienne and he was succeeded by his son Charles VI the Mad, whose disastrous reign allowed the English to regain control of large parts of France. Charles was born at the Château de Vincennes outside of Paris, the future king was highly intelligent but physically weak, with pale skin and a thin, ill-proportioned body. This made a sharp contrast to his father, who was tall, strong, as neither the pope nor the emperor wanted to buy, the transaction was concluded with Philip VI. Under the Treaty of Romans, the Dauphiné of Viennois was to be held by a son of the future king John the Good, so it was Charles, the eldest son of the latter, who became the first Dauphin. At the age of twelve, he was confronted with the exercise of power while staying in Grenoble. A few days after his arrival, the people of Grenoble were invited to the Place Notre-Dame, young Charles took his place next to Bishop John of Chissé and received the oath of allegiance of the people. On April 8,1350 at Tain-lHermitage, the Dauphin married his cousin Joanna of Bourbon at the age of 12, the prior approval of the pope was obtained for this consanguineous marriage. The marriage was delayed by the death of his mother Bonne of Luxembourg and his grandmother Joan the Lame, the dauphin himself had been seriously ill from August to December 1349. Gatherings were limited to slow the spread of the then raging in Europe. Despite his young age, the applied to be recognized by his subjects. Charles was recalled to Paris at the death of his grandfather Philip VI, the legitimacy of John the Good, and that of the Valois in general, was not unanimous. His father, Philip VI, had lost all credibility with the disasters of Crecy, Calais, the ravages of the plague, the royal clan had to cope with opposition from all sides in the kingdom

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Charles V the Wise
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The Château du Louvre, shown in this early fifteenth century illumination, representing the month of October in Les très riches Heures du duc de Berry, was rebuilt during the reign of Charles V – inaugurating a new era of royal architecture

16.
Louis I of Anjou
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Louis I was the second son of John II of France and the founder of the Angevin branch of the French royal house. Bonne of Bohemia gave birth to him at the Château de Vincennes and his father appointed him Count of Anjou and Count of Maine in 1356, and then raised him to the title Duke of Anjou in 1360 and Duke of Touraine in 1370. In 1382, as the son of Joan I, he succeeded to the counties of Provence. He also inherited from her a claim to the kingdoms of Naples and he was already a veteran of the Hundred Years War against the English when he led an army into Italy to claim his Neapolitan inheritance. He died on the march and his claims and titles fell to his son and namesake, Louis II, Louis was present at the Battle of Poitiers, in the battalion commanded by his brother Charles, the Dauphin. They hardly fought and the group escaped in the middle of the confrontation. Although humiliating, their flight allowed them to capture by the English. King John II and Louis younger brother Philip were not so fortunate and were captured by the English, commanded by Edward and their ransom and peace conditions between France and England were agreed in the Treaty of Brétigny, signed in 1360. Amongst the complicated items of the treaty was a clause that determined the surrender of 40 high-born hostages as guarantee for the payment of the kings ransom, Louis, already Duke of Anjou, was in this group and sailed to England in October 1360. However, France was not in good condition and further installments of the debt were delayed. As consequence, Louis was in English custody for more than the expected six months. He tried to negotiate his freedom in a negotiation with Edward III of England and. On his return to France, he met his fathers disapproval for his unknightly behavior, from 1380 to 1382 Louis served as regent for his nephew, King Charles VI of France. In 1382 Louis left France in the year to claim the throne of Naples following the death of Queen Joanna I. She had adopted him to succeed her, as she was childless and did not wish to leave her inheritance to any of her close relatives and he was also able to succeed her as count of Provence and Forcalquier. The expedition, counting to some 40,000 troops, was however unsuccessful, amadeus fell ill and died in Molise on 1 March 1383 and his troops abandoned the field. Louis asked for help from his nephew in France, who sent him an army under Enguerrand of Coucy. The latter was able to conquer Arezzo and then invade the Kingdom of Naples and he soon sold Arezzo to Florence and returned to France

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15th-century portrait of Louis

17.
Isabella of Valois
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Isabella of France was Queen consort of England as the second spouse of King Richard II. Her parents were King Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria and she married the king at the age of seven and was widowed three years later. She later married Charles, Duke of Orléans, dying in childbirth at the age of nineteen, Isabellas younger sister, Catherine, was Queen of England from 1420 until 1422, wife of Henry V and mother of Henry VI. Catherine was also a grandmother of Henry VII, Isabella lived during a period of political tension between France and England known as the Hundred Years War, the situation exacerbated by the mental instability of her father. On 31 October 1396, almost the age of seven, Isabella married the widower King Richard II of England in a move for peace with France, although the union was political, Richard II and the child Isabella developed a mutually respectful relationship. By May of 1399, the Queen had been moved to Portchester Castle for protection while Richard went on a campaign in Ireland. King Henry IV then decided Queen Isabella should marry his son, the future Henry V of England, knowing her husband was dead, she went into mourning, ignoring Henry IVs demands. Eventually he let her go back to France, on 29 June 1406, Queen Isabella married her cousin Charles, Duke of Orléans. She died in childbirth at the age of 19, leaving one daughter, Joan, Isabella was interred in Blois, in the abbey of St. Laumer, where her body was found entire in 1624, curiously wrapped in bands of linen plated over with quicksilver. It was then transferred to the church of the Celestines in Paris, in Shakespeares play Richard II Richards queen appears in two significant scenes at the time of his deposition, but she is portrayed as an adult. She is forced by the new king Henry IV to leave for France after the deposition, two well-regarded novels about Isabellas life appeared in the late 1950s. Hilda Lewis The Gentle Falcon is about Isabellas marriage to Richard II, while Gladys Malverns My Lady, My Love is about Isabellas later years after Richards death and her return to France

Isabella of Valois
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Isabella of Valois
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Richard and Isabella on their wedding day

18.
Catherine of Valois
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Catherine of Valois was the queen consort of England from 1420 until 1422. A daughter of Charles VI of France, she married Henry V of England and her liaison with Owen Tudor proved the springboard of that familys fortunes, eventually leading to their grandsons elevation as Henry VII of England. Catherines older sister Isabella was queen of England from 1396 until 1399, Catherine of Valois was the youngest daughter of King Charles VI of France and his wife Isabeau of Bavaria. She was born at the Hôtel Saint-Pol on 27 October 1401, early on, there had been a discussion of marrying her to the prince of Wales, son of Henry IV of England, but the king died before negotiations could begin. In 1414, the prince, now Henry V, re-opened discussion of the match, along with a large dowry, while some authors have maintained that Catherine was neglected as a child by her mother, a more contemporary examination of the evidence suggests otherwise. Henry V went to war with France, and even after the great English victory at Agincourt, Catherine was said to be very attractive and when Henry finally met her at Meulan, he became enamoured. In May 1420, a agreement was made between England and France, the Treaty of Troyes, and Charles acknowledged Henry of England as his heir. Catherine and Henry were married at the Parish Church of St John or at Troyes Cathedral on 2 June 1420, Catherine went to England with her new husband and was crowned queen in Westminster Abbey on 23 February 1421. In June 1421, Henry returned to France to continue his military campaigns, by this time, Catherine was several months pregnant and gave birth to a son named Henry on 6 December 1421 at Windsor. Her husband never saw their child, during the siege of Meaux, he became sick with dysentery and died on 31 August 1422, just before his 36th birthday. Catherine was not quite 21 and was left a queen dowager, Charles VI died a couple of months after Henry V, making the young Henry VI king of England and English-occupied northern France. Catherine doted on her son during his early childhood, Catherine was still young and marriageable, a source of concern to her brother-in-law Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and Lord Protector. Rumours abounded that Catherine planned to marry Edmund Beaufort, Count of Mortain, the kings consent was contingent upon his having attained his majority. At that time, the king was only six years old, Catherine lived in the kings household, presumably so she could care for her young son, but the arrangement also enabled the councillors to watch over the queen dowager herself. Nevertheless, Catherine entered into a relationship with Welshman Owen ap Maredudd ap Tudor. Tudor was probably appointed keeper of Catherines household or wardrobe, the relationship began when Catherine lived at Windsor Castle, and she became pregnant with their first child there. At some point, she stopped living in the Kings household and this was important because of Henry IVs laws limiting the rights of Welshmen. There is no evidence either way whether Catherine and Owen Tudor actually married

19.
Charles VIII of France
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Charles VIII, called the Affable, French, lAffable, was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13 and his elder sister Anne of France acted as regent jointly with her husband Peter II, Duke of Bourbon until 1491 when the young king turned 21 years of age. During Annes regency, the great lords rebelled against royal centralisation efforts in a known as the Mad War. Preoccupied by the succession in the Kingdom of Hungary, Maximilian failed to press his claim. Upon his marriage, Charles became administrator of Brittany and established a union that enabled France to avoid total encirclement by Habsburg territories. The coalition formed against the French invasion of 1494-98 finally drove out Charles army, Charles died in 1498 after accidentally striking his head on the lintel of a door. Since he had no heir, he was succeeded by his cousin Louis XII of France from the Orléans cadet branch of the House of Valois. Charles was born at the Château dAmboise in France, the surviving son of King Louis XI by his second wife Charlotte of Savoy. Charles succeeded to the throne on 30 August 1483 at the age of 13 and he was regarded by his contemporaries as possessing a pleasant disposition, but also as foolish and unsuited for the business of the state. She would rule as regent, together with her husband Peter of Bourbon, Charles was betrothed on 22 July 1483 to the 3-year-old Margaret of Austria, daughter of the Archduke Maximilian of Austria and Mary, Duchess of Burgundy. The marriage was arranged by Louis XI, Maximilian, and the Estates of the Low Countries as part of the 1482 Peace of Arras between France and the Duchy of Burgundy. Margaret brought the Counties of Artois and Burgundy to France as her dowry, in 1488, however, Francis II, Duke of Brittany, died in a riding accident, leaving his 11-year-old daughter Anne as his heiress. The Regent Anne of France and her husband Peter refused to countenance such a marriage, however, since it would place Maximilian and his family, the Habsburgs, on two French borders. The French army invaded Brittany, taking advantage of the preoccupation of Frederick III and his son with the succession to Mathias Corvinus. Anne of Brittany was forced to renounce Maximilian and agree to be married to Charles VIII instead, in December 1491, in an elaborate ceremony at the Château de Langeais, Charles and Anne of Brittany were married. The 14-year-old Duchess Anne, not happy with the arranged marriage, however, Charless marriage brought him independence from his relatives and thereafter he managed affairs according to his own inclinations. Queen Anne lived at the Clos Lucé in Amboise, there still remained the matter of Charles first betrothed, the young Margaret of Austria. Although the cancellation of her betrothal meant that she by rights should have returned to her family, Charles did not initially do so

20.
Count of Ponthieu
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The County of Ponthieu, centered on the mouth of the Somme, became a member of the Norman group of vassal states when Count Guy submitted to William of Normandy after the battle of Mortemer. It eventually formed part of the dowry of Eleanor of Castile, much fought-over in the Hundred Years War, it eventually passed to the French royal domain, and the title Count of Ponthieu became a courtesy title for the royal family. Helgaud II, also Count of Montreuil, D.926 in combat against the Normans. Herluin II or Herlouin, also Count of Montreuil, roger or Rotgaire or Notgard, also Count of Montreuil. William I, also Count of Montreuil, Hugh I, also Count of Montreuil, d. c. Enguerrand I, also Count of Montreuil Hugh II, also Lord of Abbeville Father of both Enguerrand II and Guy I, Married Adelaide II daughter of Robert I Duke of Normandy. Succeeded by his brother Guy I, Guy I, brother of Enguerrand II. Succeeded in Ponthieu by his daughter, Agnes b. c.1080 in Ponthieu, France, d by 1103 Married c.1087 Robert of Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury, Succeeded in Ponthieu by her only child, William III Talvas, also Count of Alençon. During his lifetime, he ceded Ponthieu to his elder son Guy II, Alençon went to his younger son John I who was married to Beatrice of Anjou, first cousin of Henry II of England, Count of Anjou. Succeeded by his son, John I Succeeded by his son, William IV Talvas. Succeeded by his daughter, Mary, also Countess of Montreuil, Married Simon of Dammartin Succeeded by their daughter, Joan, also Countess of Montreuil. Married Ferdinand III of Castile Eleanor, also Countess of Montreuil, edward II of England, also Count of Montreuil. Edward III of England, also Count of Montreuil, leopold Delisle, ed. London, Henry Bohn

Count of Ponthieu
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Coat of Arms of the Counts of Ponthieu

21.
Louis, Dauphin of France (1397-1415)
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Louis was the eighth of twelve children of King Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria. He was their son and the second to hold the titles Dauphin of Viennois and Duke of Guyenne, inheriting them in 1401, at the death of his older brother. Louis was born between the eighth and ninth hours of the evening in the royal Hôtel Saint-Pol in Paris and he was baptised the next day in the parish church of Saint-Paul, with eight prelates attending, including the abbot of Saint-Denis. Present also was an assembly of noblemen and ladies. The infant was carried to the font by Duke Louis of Orléans, Pierre le Bègue de Villaines and they gave him the name Louis and the archbishop of Vienne performed the baptism. The first years of Louiss life were spent in the care of his mother, only after the death of his elder brother Charles on 13 January 1401 did he take on a political importance by inheriting the Dauphiné. On 14 January, King Charles formally invested Louis with the Duchy of Guyenne, on 28 February 1402, Charles juridically emancipated his son and Louis did homage for Guyenne. Nonetheless, the young dauphin did not have his own household or treasury, the revenues of Guyenne were overseen by John, Duke of Berry, as lieutenant-general of Languedoc. On 4 July, another royal ordinance confirmed the revenues of Guyenne to the duke of Berry for the rest of his life, on 30 January 1404, the king ordered the establishment of a household and treasury separate from Isabeaus for the eight-year-old Louis. Although Louiss marriage contract had been signed before a council of the realm on 5 May 1403, the Duke of Orléans. The marriage of Louiss sister Michelle to Margarets brother Philip, Count of Charolais, was finalised at this council. Since Louis and Margaret were related to within the prohibited degree, as a consequence, the couple was not married until 30 August 1404 in the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. As Charles VI descended into madness, influence over and control of Louis became of increasing importance to the parties sought to control royal policy. In 1404, Louiss father-in-law succeeded as duke of Burgundy, in 1405, the duke of Orléans, in cooperation with the queen, perpetrated the first kidnapping of the Dauphin in order to separate Louis from the influence of his grandfather-in-law. As the duke of Burgundy approached Paris on a summons, the duke of Orléans. The dauphin was ill, but was brought by boat and then by litter to Juvisy, where he was intercepted by the lord of Saint-Georges, the duke of Burgundy and the count of Charolais then met him and escorted him back to Paris in his litter. There the young duke was put up in the Louvre, because it was easier to defend than the Hôtel Saint-Pol, in 1409, Jean de Nielles, already chancellor to the queen and a knight known for his loyalty to the Burgundian duke, was made Louiss chancellor also. The duke of Burgundy also appointed Pierre de Fontenay, Louiss maître dhôtel, while the duke of Orléans chose his chamberlains, the influence of the dukes is apparent even in Louiss buying habits, he frequented the merchants who were the suppliers of Burgundy and Orléans

Louis, Dauphin of France (1397-1415)
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Louis of Guyenne

22.
Poitiers
–
Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department, Poitiers is a major university centre. The centre of town is picturesque and its streets include predominant historical architecture, especially religious architecture and this battles consequences partly provoked the Jacquerie. The city of Poitiers is strategically situated on the Seuil du Poitou, the Seuil du Poitou connects the Aquitaine Basin to the South to the Paris Basin to the North. This area is an important geographic crossroads in France and Western Europe, poitierss primary site sits on a vast promontory between the valleys of the Boivre and the Clain. The old town occupies the slopes and the summit of a plateau which rises 130 feet above the streams which surround it on three sides, thus Poitiers benefits from a very strong tactical situation. This was an important factor before and throughout the Middle Ages. Inhabitants of Poitiers are referred to as Poitevins or Poitevines, although this denomination can be used for anyone from the Poitou province, as of 2015, the population of Poitiers was 298,339. One out of three people in Poitiers is under the age of 30 and one out of four residents in Poitiers is a student, the climate in the Poitiers area is mild with mild temperature amplitudes, and adequate rainfall throughout the year. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this type of climate is Cfb, Poitiers was founded by the Celtic tribe of the Pictones and was known as the oppidum Lemonum before Roman influence. The name is said to have come from the Celtic word for elm, after Roman influence took over, the town became known as Pictavium, or later Pictavis, after the original Pictones inhabitants themselves. There is a history of archeological finds from the Roman era in Poitiers. In fact until 1857 Poitiers hosted the ruins of a vast Roman amphitheatre, remains of Roman baths, built in the 1st century and demolished in the 3rd century, were uncovered in 1877. In 1879 a burial-place and tombs of a number of Christian martyrs were discovered on the heights to the south-east of the town, the names of some of the Christians had been preserved in paintings and inscriptions. Not far from these tombs is a dolmen, which is 6.7 metres long,4.9 metres broad and 2.1 metres high. The Romans also built at least three aqueducts and this extensive ensemble of Roman constructions suggests Poitiers was a town of first importance, possibly even the capital of the Roman province of Gallia Aquitania during the 2nd century. The first foundations of the Baptistère Saint-Jean can be traced to that era of open Christian evangelization and he was named Doctor of The Church by Pope Pius IX. In the 4th century, a thick wall 6m wide and 10m high was built around the town and it was 2.5 km long and stood lower on the naturally defended east side and at the top of the promontory

23.
Melun
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Melun is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is a suburb of Paris 41.4 km from the centre of Paris. Melun is the prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne, and the seat of an arrondissement. Meledunum began as a Gaulish town, Caesar noted Melun as a town of the Senones, situated on an island in the Seine, at the island there was a wooden bridge, which his men repaired. Roman Meledunum was a mutatio where fresh horses were available for official couriers on the Roman road south-southeast of Paris. The Normans sacked it in 845, the castle of Melun became a royal residence of the Capetian kings. Hugh Capet gave Melun to Bouchard, his favorite, in the reign of Hughs son, Robert II of France, Eudes, the count of Champagne, bought the city, but the king took it back for Bouchard in 999. The chatelain Gautier and his wife, who had sold the city, were hanged, Robert died there in July 1031. Donatus Bouchard I, also Count of Vendôme and Count of Paris The early viscounts of Melun were listed by 17th and 18th century genealogists, such viscounts include Honoré Armand de Villars and Claude Louis Hector de Villars. Melun is served by the Gare de Melun, which is a station on Paris RER line D, on the Transilien R suburban rail line. The Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame, Melun was the home of the Melun Diptych. The nearby château of Vaux-le-Vicomte is considered a predecessor of Palace of Versailles. The officers school of the French Gendarmerie is located in Melun, the Viscounts and Counts of Melun are listed in Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln, Neue Folge, Volume VII, Tafels 55 &56

Melun
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Town Hall
Melun
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Melun water-color postcard showing Melun in the 1920s and circa 1095.
Melun
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Melun Shield dating from the 15th century – "Melun (Seine-et-Marne): Azure on a semy-de-lys or a castle with three towers argent. Melun was one of the original strongholds of the royal domain. Motto: fida muris usque ad mures, recalling the siege of 1420 when inhabitants had to eat rats." http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/frcitdep.htm

24.
Montereau-Fault-Yonne
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Montereau-Fault-Yonne, or simply Montereau, is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. The city takes its name from its position on the confluence of the Yonne. Fault, also spelled faut comes from the verb faillir in its old meaning to fall, Montereau is where the Yonne falls into the Seine. The town is split in three by the rivers, ville basse situated on the shore and Surville on the hill to the north. The old town centre is located in ville basse while Surville is an assembly of high buildings, erected after World War II. Some of these high rise buildings are now going to be destroyed and replaced by individual houses, the old château-park in Surville however gives a very nice view over the confluent and the Seine-et-Marne region. On the east side, between the two rivers, are the port and an industrial park, in 1359, the King of Navarre Charles II of Navarre, who held the town because of his Champagne ascent, lost it to the regent of France. John the Fearless was killed on the bridge in September,1419 by Tanneguy du Chastel. An inscription on the bridge recalls the event, in the collegiate church Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Loup there is a sword which has long been said to be John the Fearless, but actually this sword is certainly more recent. In 1420, Philip the Good, the son of John the Fearless, seized the town, however, at the end of a long siege, the king Charles VII, helped by Chabannes and Dunois, managed to take it again. In 1567, during the Wars of Religion, Condé briefly seized the town, in 1587, the inhabitants of Montereau sided with the Catholic League, but in 1590 they accepted the legitimacy of the new king Henry IV. Montereau was also the place of one of the last victories of Napoleon on 14 February 1814, inhabitants of Montereau-Fault-Yonne are called Monterelais. The canton, which belonged to the arrondissement of Fontainebleau in the beginning, was attached to Provins in 1926 and it has 14 communes and 33,934 inhabitants. Historically, the city has sported a strong base and thus has strong blue collar roots. In recent decades, unemployment has become a problem, especially within the immigrant community in Surville. Montereau is twinned with the British town of Otley, north of Leeds, communes of the Seine-et-Marne department INSEE1999 Land Use, from IAURIF French Ministry of Culture list for Montereau-Fault-Yonne Map of Montereau-Fault-Yonne on Michelin

Montereau-Fault-Yonne
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Bridges over rivers Seine (foreground), Yonne (background) and statue of Napoléon
Montereau-Fault-Yonne
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John XXIII Square, in Surville.
Montereau-Fault-Yonne
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Plaque commemorating the murder of John the Fearless, on the bridge crossing the Yonne river.
Montereau-Fault-Yonne
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Statue of Napoleon, erected during the Second Empire on the bridge of Montereau.

25.
Treaty of Troyes
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The Treaty of Troyes was an agreement that King Henry V of England and his heirs would inherit the throne of France upon the death of King Charles VI of France. It was signed in the French city of Troyes on 21 May 1420 in the aftermath of Henrys successful military campaign in France. The treaty arranged for the marriage of Charles VIs daughter Catherine of Valois to Henry V, the Dauphin Charles VII of France was disinherited from the succession. The Estates-General of France ratified the agreement later that year after Henry V entered Paris, the French king Charles VI suffered bouts of insanity through much of his reign. Henry V had invaded France in 1415 and delivered a crushing defeat to the French at Agincourt, in 1418, John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, whose political and economic interests favoured an agreement with the English, occupied Paris. One year later he was murdered by his Armagnac opponents on the bridge at Montereau and his son Philip the Good formed an alliance with the English and negotiated the treaty with the English King. There had been rumours that the Queen had an affair with her brother-in-law Louis. These rumours were gladly taken up by Louis main rival, John the Fearless, the Burgundians promoted the rumor that Charles was a bastard. However, such a statement could not possibly be registered in a treaty without offending the honor of the King of France. Thus, the disinheritance of the dauphin, with respect to the French throne, was based on his enormous crimes, Charles disinheritance received further legal sanction after he declared himself regent for Charles VI in rivalry to the regency declared by Henry V. The Dauphin was summoned to a justice in 1420 on charges of lèse-majesté. The treaty was undermined by the deaths of both Charles VI and Henry V within two months of each other in 1422. The infant Henry VI of England became King of both England and France, but the Dauphin Charles also claimed the throne of France upon the death of his father. Crowned King of France, Charles VII, on 17 July 1429 in Reims Cathedral, however, in 1435, Charles signed the Treaty of Arras with the Burgundians, in which they recognized and endorsed his claims to the throne. The military victory of Charles VII over both the French and English supporters of the claims of Henry VI to be king of France rendered the treaty moot. The kings of England continued to claim the crown of France until the Acts of Union in 1800 merged the Kingdoms of Great Britain, nobles, Knights and Men-at Arms in the Middle Ages. The Contending Kingdoms, France and England 1420-1700, the Hundred Years War, England and France at War c.1300 - c. John Lydgate, A Study in the Culture of the XVth Century

Treaty of Troyes
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Ratification of the Treaty de Troyes, 21 May 1420

26.
Henry VI of England
–
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Henry inherited the long-running Hundred Years War, where Charles VII contested his claim to the French throne. Henry married Charless niece, Margaret of Anjou, partially in the hope of achieving peace in 1445, the war recommenced, with France taking the upper hand, by 1453, Calais was Henrys only remaining territory on the continent. Henry experienced a breakdown after the failure of the war. Civil war broke out in 1460, leading to a period of dynastic conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. Henry was taken prisoner by Richard of York at Northampton on 10 July 1460 but was rescued that December by forces loyal to Margaret and he was deposed on 29 March 1461 following the victory at Towton by Richards son, who took the throne as Edward IV. Henry suffered another breakdown and, despite Margaret continuing to lead a resistance to Edward, he was captured by Edwards forces in 1465 and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick, restored Henry to the throne in 1470, Henry died in the Tower during the night of 21 May 1471, possibly killed on the orders of Edward. He was buried at Chertsey Abbey, before being moved to Windsor Castle in 1484, miracles were attributed to Henry after his death, and he was informally regarded as a saint and martyr until the 16th century. He left a legacy of educational institutions, having founded Eton College, Kings College and All Souls College, William Shakespeare wrote a trilogy of plays about his life, depicting him as weak-willed and easily influenced by his wife, Margaret. Henry was the child and heir of King Henry V. He was born on 6 December 1421 at Windsor Castle and he succeeded to the throne as King of England at the age of nine months upon his fathers death on 31 August 1422, he was the youngest person ever to succeed to the English throne. A few weeks later on 21 October 1422 in accordance with the Treaty of Troyes of 1420 and his mother, Catherine of Valois, was then 20 years old. As Charles VIs daughter, she was viewed with suspicion by English nobles and was prevented from playing a full role in her sons upbringing. On 28 September 1423, the nobles swore loyalty to Henry VI and they summoned Parliament in the Kings name and established a regency council to govern until the King should come of age. One of Henry Vs surviving brothers, John, Duke of Bedford, was appointed regent of the realm and was in charge of the ongoing war in France. During Bedfords absence, the government of England was headed by Henry Vs other surviving brother, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester and his duties were limited to keeping the peace and summoning Parliament. Henry Vs half-uncle Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, had an important place on the Council, after the Duke of Bedford died in 1435, the Duke of Gloucester claimed the Regency himself, but was contested in this by the other members of the Council

Henry VI of England
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Henry VI
Henry VI of England
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Henry VI, aged nine months, is shown being placed in the care of the Earl of Warwick
Henry VI of England
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Mid-15th century depiction of Henry being crowned King of France
Henry VI of England
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Margaret of Anjou, depicted in the Talbot Shrewsbury Book, 1444-45

27.
Dual monarchy of England and France
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The dual monarchy of England and France existed during the latter phase of the Hundred Years War when Charles VII of France and Henry VI of England disputed the succession to the throne of France. It commenced on 21 October 1422 upon the death of King Charles VI of France and it excluded King Charless son, the Dauphin Charles, who by right of primogeniture was the heir to the Kingdom of France. Although the Treaty was ratified by the Estates-General of France, the act was a contravention of the French law of succession which decreed that the French crown could not be alienated. Henry VI, son of Henry V, became king of both England and France and was recognized only by the English and Burgundians until 1435 as King Henry II of France and he was crowned King of France on 16 December 1431. In 1435, the Duke of Burgundy, released from his obligations to Henry VI by a papal legate, the defection of this powerful French noble marked the end of Henrys de facto reign over France. The Dual monarchy came to an end with the victory of the French at the Battle of Castillon on 17 July 1453. The English were expelled from all of the territories which they had controlled in France, Charles VII had thus established himself as the undisputed king of almost all of France. In the first phase Edward III won some victories against the French, most notably at Crécy. His son Edward, the Black Prince also captured the French king John II at the battle of Poitiers in 1356, the year 1360 marked the end of the first phase and an opportunity for peace. In the Treaty of Brétigny the French king was ransomed for an amount equal to twice the French kingdoms Gross, in addition, the French granted Edward III an extended Aquitaine, thus restoring one of the main duchies of the previous Angevin Empire. Edward III was, however, forced to give up his title as the king to the throne of France. Charles V ascended to the throne, and in 1369 hostilities were reopened by the French declaring war and this time they led to embarrassing strategic defeats for the English side. The English, now on the defensive, lost more territory, by now, Edward was aging and no longer fit to lead in battle. His son, the Prince of Wales, predeceased him by a year, there was another truce in 1396 when Richard II married Isabella of Valois, a daughter of King Charles VI of France, thus marking the end of the second phase. In the beginning, Henry claimed he was retrieving his confiscated region of Lancaster, Henry, nevertheless, remained firmly on the throne, and Richard II was deposed. Internal strife reached its climax during his reign, with the rebellions of Owen Glendower, Henry, however, was least involved politically. Civil War was raging in France, especially between the parties of Armagnac and the Burgundians, Charles VIs brother Louis, Duke of Orléans, was assassinated on the order of the Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless. This was largely due to an affair with the Duchess of Burgundy

28.
Louvre Palace
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The Louvre Palace is a former royal palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Germain lAuxerrois. Its present structure has evolved in stages since the 16th century, in 1793 part of the Louvre became a public museum, now the Musée du Louvre, which has expanded to occupy most of the building. The Palace is situated in the right-bank of the River Seine between Rue de Rivoli to the north and the Quai François Mitterrand to the south. To the west is the Jardin des Tuileries and, to the east, the Rue de lAmiral de Coligny, where its most architecturally famous façade, the Louvre Colonnade, the Cour Napoléon and Cour du Carrousel are separated by the street known as the Place du Carrousel. Some 51,615 sq m in the complex are devoted to public exhibition floor space. The Old Louvre occupies the site of the 12th-century fortress of King Philip Augustus and its foundations are viewable in the basement level as the Medieval Louvre department. This structure was razed in 1546 by King Francis I in favour of a royal residence which was added to by almost every subsequent French monarch. King Louis XIV, who resided at the Louvre until his departure for Versailles in 1678, completed the Cour Carrée, the Old Louvre is a quadrilateral approximately 160 m on a side consisting of 8 ailes which are articulated by 8 pavillons. With it, the last external vestiges of the medieval Louvre were demolished, the New Louvre is the name often given to the wings and pavilions extending the Palace for about 500 m westwards on the north and on the south sides of the Cour Napoléon and Cour du Carrousel. This consummation only lasted a few years, however, as the Tuileries was burned in 1871, the northern limb of the new Louvre consists of three great pavilions along the Rue de Rivoli, the Pavillon de la Bibliothèque, Pavillon de Rohan and Pavillon de Marsan. As on the side, three inside pavilions and their wings define three more subsidiary Courts, Cour du Sphinx, Cour Viconti and Cour Lefuel. The Chinese American architect I. M. Pei was selected in 1983 to design François Mitterrands Grand Louvre Project. The ground-level entrance to this complex was situated in the centre of the Cour Napoléon and is crowned by the prominent steel-and-glass pyramid, in a proposal by Kenneth Carbone, the nomenclature of the wings of the Louvre was simplified in 1987 to reflect the Grand Louvres organization. This allows the visitor to avoid becoming totally mystified at the bewildering array of named wings. The origin of the name Louvre is unclear, the French historian Henri Sauval, probably writing in the 1660s, stated that he had seen in an old Latin-Saxon glossary, Leouar is translated castle and thus took Leouar to be the origin of Louvre. According to Keith Briggs, Sauvals theory is often repeated, even in recent books, but this glossary has never seen again. Briggs suggests that H. J. Wolfs proposal in 1969 that Louvre derives instead from Latin Rubras, david Hanser, on the other hand, reports that the word may come from French louveterie, a place where dogs were trained to chase wolves. In 1190 King Philip II Augustus, who was about to leave on the Third Crusade, completed in 1202, the new fortress was situated in what is now the southwest quadrant of the Cour Carrée

29.
King of France
–
The monarchs of the Kingdom of France and its predecessors ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of the Franks in 486 till the fall of the Second French Empire in 1870. Sometimes included as kings of France are the kings of the Franks of the Merovingian dynasty, which ruled from 486 until 751, and of the Carolingians, who ruled until 987. The Capetian dynasty, the descendants of Hugh Capet, included the first rulers to adopt the title of king of France for the first time with Philip II. The Capetians ruled continuously from 987 to 1792 and again from 1814 to 1848, the branches of the dynasty which ruled after 1328, however, are generally given the specific branch names of Valois and Bourbon. During the brief period when the French Constitution of 1791 was in effect and after the July Revolution in 1830 and it was a constitutional innovation known as popular monarchy which linked the monarchs title to the French people rather than to the possession of the territory of France. With the House of Bonaparte Emperors of the French ruled in 19th century France and it was used on coins up to the eighteenth century. During the brief period when the French Constitution of 1791 was in effect and after the July Revolution in 1830 and it was a constitutional innovation known as popular monarchy which linked the monarchs title to the French people rather than to the possession of the territory of France. They used the title Emperor of the French and this article lists all rulers to have held the title King of the Franks, King of France, King of the French or Emperor of the French. For other Frankish monarchs, see List of Frankish kings, in addition to the monarchs listed below, the Kings of England and Great Britain from 1340–60, 1369-1420, and 1422–1801 also claimed the title of King of France. For a short time, this had some basis in fact – under the terms of the 1420 Treaty of Troyes, Charles VI had recognized his son-in-law Henry V of England as regent and heir. Henry V predeceased Charles VI and so Henry Vs son, Henry VI, most of Northern France was under English control until 1435, but by 1453, the English had been expelled from all of France save Calais, and Calais itself fell in 1558. Nevertheless, English and then British monarchs continued to claim the title for themselves until the creation of the United Kingdom in 1801. The Merovingians were a Salian Frankish dynasty that ruled the Franks for nearly 300 years in a known as Francia in Latin. Their territory largely corresponded to ancient Gaul as well as the Roman provinces of Raetia, Germania Superior, the Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. In 751, a Carolingian, Pepin the Younger, dethroned the Merovingians and with the consent of the Papacy, the Robertians were Frankish noblemen owing fealty to the Carolingians, and ancestors of the subsequent Capetian dynasty. Odo, Count of Paris, was chosen by the western Franks to be their king following the removal of emperor Charles the Fat, the Bosonids were a noble family descended from Boso the Elder, their member, Rudolph, was elected King of the Franks in 923. After the death of Louis V, the son of Hugh the Great and grandson of Robert I, the Capetian Dynasty, the male-line descendants of Hugh Capet, ruled France continuously from 987 to 1792 and again from 1814 to 1848. They were direct descendants of the Robertian kings, the cadet branches of the dynasty which ruled after 1328, however, are generally given the specific branch names of Valois and Bourbon

30.
Loire Valley
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The Loire Valley, spanning 280 kilometres, is located in the middle stretch of the Loire River in central France, primarily within the administrative region named Centre-Val de Loire. The area of the Loire Valley comprises about 800 square kilometres and it is referred to as the Cradle of the French and the Garden of France due to the abundance of vineyards, fruit orchards, and artichoke, and asparagus fields, which line the banks of the river. Notable for its towns, architecture, and wines, the valley has been inhabited since the Middle Palaeolithic period. In 2000, UNESCO added the part of the Loire River valley to its list of World Heritage Sites. The valley includes historic towns such as Amboise, Angers, Blois, Chinon, Orléans, Saumur, the climate is favorable most of the year, the river often acting as a line of demarcation in Frances weather between the northern climate and the southern. The river has a significant effect on the mesoclimate of the region, the climate can be cool with springtime frost while wine harvest months may have rain. Summers are hot, however, influences from the Atlantic moderate the temperature with breezes, Loire wines tend to exhibit a characteristic fruitiness with fresh, crisp flavors. On December 2,2000, UNESCO added the part of the river valley. When the French kings began constructing their huge châteaux here, the nobility, not wanting or even daring to be far from the seat of power and their presence in the lush, fertile valley began attracting the very best landscape designers. In addition to its many châteaux, the cultural monuments illustrate to a degree the ideals of the Renaissance. Many of the châteaux were designed to be built on the top of hills, many of the châteaux had extremely detailed and expensive churches on the grounds, or within the actual château itself. Loire Valley world heritage site Loire Valley Chateau du Rivau Chinon Fortress Western France Tourist Board

31.
Chinon
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Chinon is a commune located in the Indre-et-Loire department in the Region Centre, France. The regional area is called the Touraine, which is known as the garden of France and it is well known for its wine, castle, and historic town. Chinon played an important and strategic role during the Middle Ages, Chinon is in the Loire valley, registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. The historic town of Chinon is on the banks of the Vienne river about 10 kilometres from where it joins the Loire, settlement in Chinon dates from prehistoric times, with a pronounced importance for both French and English history in the Middle Ages. The site was fortified early on, and by the 5th century a Gallo-Roman castrum had been established there, towards the mid 5th century, a disciple of St Martin, St Mexme, established first a hermitage, and then a monastery to the east of the town. This religious foundation bearing his name flourished in the period, being rebuilt. The eventual complex contained a large and highly decorated church and a square of canons residences, closure and partial demolition during and after the Revolution of 1789 have damaged this once very important church. The imposing second façade still stands, with its nave dating from the year 1000 A. D and its important remains have been restored as historical monument and a cultural centre. During the Middle Ages, Chinon further developed, especially under Henry II, the castle was rebuilt and extended, becoming his administrative center and a favourite residence. It was where court was held during the Angevin Empire. On Henrys death at the castle in 1189, Chinon first passed to his eldest surviving son from his marriage with Eleanor of Aquitaine, on Richards death in 1199, it then passed to the youngest of their children, John Lackland. King John would lose the castle in a siege in 1205 to the French king Philip II Augustus, the castle in Chinon served as a prison for a time when Philip IV the Fair ordered the Knights Templar arrested in 1307. Jacques de Molay, Grand Master, and a few other dignitaries of the Order of the Temple were incarcerated there prior to trial and eventual execution, the province remained faithful to him and he made lengthy stays with his court there. In 1429, the 17 year old Joan of Arc came to Chinon to meet, the meetings in Chinon with the future Charles VII of France and his acceptance of her was the turning point of the war, helping to establish both firmer national boundaries and sentiment. The region is the scene of these fantastic, critical and observant adventures, from the sixteenth century, Chinon was no longer a royal residence, and in 1631 it became part of the estates of the Duke of Richelieu, who neglected the fortress. Apart from townhouses and convents that were built, the city changed little up to the Revolution, in the 1820s, however, the fortifications were pulled down and the banks of the Vienne River were opened up to the outside. In the late 19th and 20th centuries, Chinon grew to the east, towards the railway station, the historic centre was registered as a conservation area in 1968, and since that time has been undergoing restoration in order to preserve its historic, natural and architectural identity. Chinon is located in the heart of the Val de Loire,47 km southwest of Tours and 305 km south west of Paris

32.
Duchy of Bar
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The County of Bar, from 1354 the Duchy of Bar, was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire encompassing the pays de Barrois and centred on the city of Bar-le-Duc. Part of the county, the so-called Barrois mouvant, became a fief of the Kingdom of France in 1301, the Barrois non-mouvant remained a part of the Empire. From 1480, it was united to the imperial Duchy of Lorraine, both imperial Bar and Lorraine were ceded to France in 1738. With the death of the last duke, Stanislaus Leszczynski, in 1766, the county of Bar originated in the frontier fortress of Bar that Duke Frederick I of Upper Lorraine built on the bank of the river Ornain around 960. The fortress was originally directed at the counts of Champagne, who had made incursions into Fredericks allodial lands, Frederick also confiscated some lands from the nearby Abbey of Saint-Mihiel and settled his knights on it. The original Barrois was thus a mixture of the dukes allodial lands, on the death of Duke Frederick III in 1033, these lands passed to his sister, Sophia, who was the first person to associate the comital title with Bar, styling herself Countess of Bar. Sophias descendants, of the House of Montbéliard, expanded Bar by usurpation, conquest, purchase and its population was francophone and culturally French, and the counts were involved in French politics. Count Reginald II married Agnes, a sister of the queen of France and his son, Henry I, died on the Third Crusade in 1190. From 1214 to 1291 Bar was ruled by Henry II and Theobald II, in the Treaty of Bruges of 1301 Henry was forced to recognise all of his county west of the river Meuse as a fief of France. This was the origin of the Barrois mouvant, a territory that was turned into a fief was said to have moved and entered the mouvance of its suzerain and it was subject to the Parliament of Paris. The Treaty of Bruges did not represent any expansion of French territory, the territory to the west of the Meuse was French since the Treaty of Verdun of 843, but in 1301 it became a direct fief of the crown, including its allodial parts. In 1354 the Count of Bar took the title and was thereafter recognised as a Peer of France. Père Anselme believed that Count Robert had been created a duke by King John II of France in preparation for the marriage to Johns daughter. The rulers of Bar were not created dukes by imperial appointment, the only title Count Robert received by imperial grant in 1354 was that of Margrave of Pont-à-Mousson. This margraviate was bestowed by the Dukes of Bar on their heirs apparent. In that same year the emperor raised the County of Luxembourg into a duchy, Bar passed to his great-nephew, René I, who was married to Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine. In 1431 the couple inherited Lorraine, on Renés death in 1480, Bar passed to his daughter Yolanda and her son, René II, who was already Duke of Lorraine. In 1482 he conquered the prévôté of Virton, a part of the Duchy of Luxembourg, in 1484 Peter II, Duke of Bourbon, regent for King Charles VIII of France, formally installed him in the Duchy of Bar

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The former ducal palace at Bar-le-Duc is today a museum, the Musée Barrois.
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France in 1477, showing the duchy of Bar in "Valois-Anjou" colours

33.
Lorraine (province)
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The Duchy of Lorraine, originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. It was founded in 959 following the division of Lotharingia into two duchies, Upper and Lower Lorraine, the westernmost parts of the Holy Roman Empire. The Lower duchy was quickly dismantled, while Upper Lorraine came to be known as simply the Duchy of Lorraine, the Duchy of Lorraine was coveted and briefly occupied by the Dukes of Burgundy and the Kings of France. When Stanisław died on 23 February 1766, Lorraine was annexed by France, lorraines predecessor, Lotharingia, was an independent Carolingian kingdom under the rule of King Lothair II. Its territory had originally been a part of Middle Francia, created in 843 by the Treaty of Verdun, Middle Francia was allotted to Emperor Lothair I, therefore called Lotharii Regnum. On his death in 855, it was divided into three parts, of which his son Lothair II took the northern one. His realm then comprised a territory stretching from the County of Burgundy in the south to the North Sea. In French, this became known as Lorraine, while in German. In the Alemannic language once spoken in Lorraine, the -ingen suffix signified a property, thus, in a figurative sense, stuck in the conflict with his rival Hugh the Great, in 942 King Louis IV of France renounced all claims to Lotharingia. In 953, the German king Otto I had appointed his brother Bruno the Great Duke of Lotharingia, in 959, Bruno divided the duchy into Upper and Lower Lorraine, this division became permanent following his death in 965. The Upper Duchy was further up the system, that is, it was inland. Upper Lorraine was first denominated as the Duchy of the Moselle, the usage of Lotharingia Superioris and Lorraine in official documents begins later, around the fifteenth century. The first duke and deputy of Bruno was Frederick I of Bar, Lower Lorraine disintegrated into several smaller territories and only the title of a Duke of Lothier remained, held by Brabant. After the duchy of the Moselle came into the possession of René of Anjou, the name Duchy of Lorraine was adopted again, only retrospectively called Upper Lorraine. At that time, several territories had already split off, such as the County of Luxembourg, the Electorate of Trier, the County of Bar, the border between the Empire and the Kingdom of France remained relatively stable throughout the Middle Ages. In 1301, Count Henry III of Bar had to receive the part of his lands as a fief by King Philip IV of France. In 1475, the Burgundian duke Charles the Bold campaigned for the Duchy of Lorraine, in the 1552 Treaty of Chambord, a number of insurgent Protestant Imperial princes around Elector Maurice of Saxony ceded the Three Bishoprics to King Henry II of France in turn for his support. In the 17th century, the French kings began to covet Lorraine, while the central Imperial authority decayed in the course of the Thirty Years War, Chief Minister Cardinal Richelieu urged the occupation of the duchy in 1641

Lorraine (province)
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1618-1648
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34.
Jean Poton de Xaintrailles
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Jean Poton de Xaintrailles, a minor noble of Gascon origin, was one of the chief lieutenants of Joan of Arc. He served as master of the stables, as royal bailiff in Berry. In 1454 he was appointed a Marshal of France, Jean Poton was a leading figure on the French side in the Hundred Years War. He fought at the battle of Verneuil in 1424 and his participation, along with Joan of Arc, in the battle at Orléans in 1427 led to the end of the Siege of Orléans. He was badly wounded during this battle and he was captured at the battle of Cravant and later exchanged for John Talbot. Jean Poton fought numerous battles alongside Joan of Arc during the Loire Campaign and he remained a lifelong support for Joan of Arc. With La Hire, he tried, albeit in vain. Believing Joan was being held captive in Compiègne, Jean Poton captured it and he served with Joan of Arc at the Siege of Orléans, and the battles of Jargeau, Meung-sur-Loire, Beaugency and Patay. He raised the siege of Compiègne, when the standing army was created in 1445, Xaintrailles was appointed to command one of the twelve companies of the new army. He died in Bordeaux without heirs and left his estate to the church, Xaintrailles is a minor figure in the Catherine novels of Juliette Benzoni

35.
Heresy
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Heresy /hār ə sē/ is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs. A heretic is a proponent of such claims or beliefs, the term is usually used to refer to violations of important religious teachings, but is used also of views strongly opposed to any generally accepted ideas. It is used in particular in reference to Christianity, Judaism, the word heresy is usually used within a Christian, Jewish, or Islamic context, and implies slightly different meanings in each. The founder or leader of a movement is called a heresiarch. Heresiology is the study of heresy, according to Titus 3,10 a divisive person should be warned two times before separating from him. The Greek for the phrase divisive person became a term in the early Church for a type of heretic who promoted dissension. In contrast correct teaching is called not only because it builds up the faith. The Church Fathers identified Jews and Judaism with heresy and they saw deviations from orthodox Christianity as heresies that were essentially Jewish in spirit. The use of the word heresy was given currency by Irenaeus in his 2nd century tract Contra Haereses to describe. He described the beliefs and doctrines as orthodox and the Gnostics teachings as heretical. He also pointed out the concept of succession to support his arguments. By Roman law the Emperor was Pontifex Maximus, the high priest of the College of Pontiffs of all recognized religions in ancient Rome. To put an end to the doctrinal debate initiated by Arius, Constantine called the first of what would afterwards be called the ecumenical councils and then enforced orthodoxy by Imperial authority. The first known usage of the term in a context was in AD380 by the Edict of Thessalonica of Theodosius I. Prior to the issuance of this edict, the Church had no state-sponsored support for any particular legal mechanism to counter what it perceived as heresy, by this edict the states authority and that of the Church became somewhat overlapping. One of the outcomes of this blurring of Church and state was the sharing of state powers of legal enforcement with church authorities and this reinforcement of the Churchs authority gave church leaders the power to, in effect, pronounce the death sentence upon those whom the church considered heretical. The edict of Theodosius II provided severe punishments for those who had or spread writings of Nestorius and those who possessed writings of Arius were sentenced to death. For some years after the Reformation, Protestant churches were known to execute those they considered heretics

36.
Calais
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Calais is a town and major ferry port in northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. The population of the area at the 2010 census was 126,395. Calais overlooks the Strait of Dover, the narrowest point in the English Channel, which is only 34 km wide here, the White Cliffs of Dover can easily be seen on a clear day from Calais. Calais is a port for ferries between France and England, and since 1994, the Channel Tunnel has linked nearby Coquelles to Folkestone by rail. Due to its position, Calais since the Middle Ages has been a major port and it was annexed by Edward III of England in 1347 and grew into a thriving centre for wool production. The town came to be called the brightest jewel in the English crown owing to its importance as the gateway for the tin, lead, lace. Calais was a possession of England until its capture by France in 1558. In 1805 it was an area for Napoleons troops for several months during his planned invasion of the United Kingdom. The town was razed to the ground during World War II. During World War II, the Germans built massive bunkers along the coast in preparation for launching missiles on England, the old part of the town, Calais proper, is situated on an artificial island surrounded by canals and harbours. The modern part of the town, St-Pierre, lies to the south, south east of the Place is the church of Notre-Dame, built during the English occupancy of Calais. It is arguably the only built in the English perpendicular style in all of France. In this church former French President Charles de Gaulle married his wife Yvonne Vendroux, south of the Place and opposite the Parc St Pierre is the Hôtel-de-ville, and the belfry from the 16th and early 17th centuries. Today, Calais is visited by more than 10 million annually, although the early history of habitation in the area is limited, the Romans called the settlement Caletum. Julius Caesar mustered 800 to 1,000 sailing boats, five legions, as the pebble and sand ridge extended eastward from Calais, the haven behind it developed into fen, as the estuary progressively filled with silt and peat. Calais was improved by the Count of Flanders in 997 and fortified by the Count of Boulogne in 1224, in 1189, Richard the Lionheart is documented to have landed at Calais on his journey to the Third Crusade. Angered, the English king demanded reprisals against the citizens for holding out for so long

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Port of Calais
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"Le Devouement des Bourgeois de Calais 1347", "The Devotion of the Burghers of Calais". Philippa of Hainault begs King Edward III to spare the lives of the six volunteers for martyrdom. 19th-century mural in Council Chamber, Hôtel de Ville, Calais
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The Burghers of Calais, by Rodin, with the Hôtel de Ville behind.
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The Marches of Calais temp. Henry VIII. (Top: south, bottom:north): "Cales Market" within citadel, shown at bottom, top " Gyenes Castel ", bottom left " Graveling ", bottom right " Sand Gat "

37.
Antoine-Louis Barye
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Antoine-Louis Barye was a French sculptor most famous for his work as an animalier, a sculptor of animals. Born in Paris, France, Barye began his career as a goldsmith and he first worked under his father, Pierre, but around 1810 worked under the sculptor Guillaume-Mertin Biennais, who was a goldsmith to Napoleon. After studying under sculptor Francois-Joseph Bosio in 1816 and painter Baron Antoine-Jean Gros, in 1819, while he was studying at the École des Beaux-Arts, Barye sculpted a medallion named Milo of Crotana Devoured by a Lion, in which the lion bites into Milos left thigh. Milos theme was the official theme for the medallion competition of 1819. Around 1820 Bayre sculpted Hercules with the Erymanthean Boar, depicting Hercules during his fourth Labor, where he had to capture, live, a wild boar from Mount Erymanthos. Barye sculpted the portrait medallion Young Man in a Beret in bronze, as well as Portrait of the Founder Richard in 1827, in only a head. He also sculpted Poised Stag in 1829, a much larger sculpture, which had a height of 48 cm, Barye didnt only want to be known as a sculptor of small bronzes, he wanted to be known as a sculpteur statuaire. In 1832 had mastered a style of his own in the Lion, Barye was no less successful in sculpture on a small scale, and excelled in representing animals in their most familiar attitudes. In 1852, he cast his bronze Jaguar Devouring a Hare, fame came late in the sculptors life. He was made Professor of Drawings at the Museum of Natural History in 1854, no new works were produced by Barye after 1869. While Barye excelled at sculpture he often faced financial burdens due to his lack of business knowledge, in 1848 he was forced to declare bankruptcy and all of his work and molds were sold to a foundry. The foundry began making inferior work from 1848-1857 and his reputation suffered during this time, in 1876 what remained of Baryes inventory,125 models, were sold to the Ferdinand Barbedienne foundry. The 1877 Barbedienne catalogue offered all of the models in bronze in variable sizes, there is a public square on the eastern tip of Île Saint-Louis in Paris that is dedicated to him. Barye had a son, Alfred Barye, who studied under him, Alfred, although very competent in his own right as a sculptor, would struggle to gain notoriety working in the shadow of his more famous father. Antoine-Louis was not pleased when his son began signing work as A. Barye because he thought this created confusion between his work and that of his son and he forced his son to sign as A. Barye, fils or Alf Barye in order to distinguish their works. The senior Barye signed only one way throughout his entire career, list of public art in Baltimore Émile-Coriolan Guillemin Attribution This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Frantz, Henri. Pennsylvania, The Pennsylvania State University,1984, ghent, Belgium, Snoeck-Ducaju & Zoon,2005

38.
John V of Armagnac
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John V of Armagnac, the penultimate Count of Armagnac of the older branch. He was the son of John IV of Armagnac and Isabella of Navarre, when word got out that two boys had been born in the castle of Lectoure, the couple promised to reform their controversial behavior. Other serious breaches ensued, John refused to seat a bishop of Auch selected by the King and assented to by the Pope, events came to a head in May 1455. Tried in absentia in 1460 before a parlement of Charles VII, he was convicted of lese-majeste, rebellion, forces were sent to capture him but he escaped punishment by fleeing to his cousins in Aragon. Though he pleaded his case in Rome, the couple were separated, within a few years a new King of France, Louis XI, reinstated John in his domains, where John rashly undid his fathers acts and broke faith with his promises. Betraying Louis, Armagnac was part of the league that called themselves Bien public, in 1469, Louis responded, under the pretense that John was treating with ambassadors from England, and sent an army to rout him. John fled to Spain, only to reappear in 1471 in the train of the rebellious brother. Louis had John besieged in his stronghold of Lectoure and put to death by Jean Jouffroy, in Lectoure on 19 August 1469, John married Joan, daughter of Count Gaston IV of Foix and Queen Eleanor of Navarre, later monarch of Navarre. April 1473 so that the race of the Count could be ended, in consequence, the title of Count of Armagnac passed, first fruitlessly to his younger brother Charles, and in 1497 to his cousin of the cadet branch, Armagnac-Nemours. His union with his sister Isabelle of Armagnac, produced three children, John of Armagnac, Seigneur of Camboulas, married in 1507 with Jeanne de La Tour, anthony of Armagnac, called the Bâtard dArmagnac. Rose of Armagnac, married in 1498 with Gaspard II de Villemur, Seigneur of Montbrun, a contemporary chronicler described him, Fire ran in his veins. He was as violent in his desires as imperious in his actions and his physical aspect was not seductive, short and stocky of stature, even pot-bellied, but gifted with great bodily strength. His neck was short, sumounted with an acne-pocked visage, with squinty eyes, un vrai feuilleton documentary history of Jean dAramagnac

John V of Armagnac
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John V

39.
Martyr
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A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, refusing to renounce, or refusing to advocate a belief or cause as demanded by an external party. This refusal to comply with the presented demands results in the punishment or execution of the martyr by the oppressor, originally applied only to those who suffered for their religious beliefs, the term is now often used in connection with people imprisoned or killed for espousing a political cause. Most martyrs are considered holy or are respected by their followers, becoming symbols of exceptional leadership, Martyrs play significant roles in religions. Similarly, martyrs have had effects in secular life, including specific figures such as Socrates, as well as in politics. In its original meaning, the martyr, meaning witness, was used in the secular sphere as well as in the New Testament of the Bible. The term, in this sense, entered the English language as a loanword. The death of a martyr or the value attributed to it is called martyrdom, the early Christians who first began to use the term martyr in its new sense saw Jesus as the first and greatest martyr, on account of his crucifixion. The early Christians appear to have seen Jesus as the archetypal martyr, the word martyr is used in English to describe a wide variety of people. However, the table presents a general outline of common features present in stereotypical martyrdoms. Examples of this are found in the Mahabharata, during the great war which commenced, even Arjuna was brought down with doubts, e. g. attachment, sorrow, fear. This is where Krishna instructs Arjuna how to carry out his duty as a righteous warrior, Martyrdom in Judaism is one of the main examples of Kiddush Hashem, meaning sanctification of Gods name through public dedication to Jewish practice. Religious martyrdom is considered one of the significant contributions of Hellenistic Judaism to Western Civilization. Frend, Judaism was itself a religion of martyrdom and it was this Jewish psychology of martyrdom that inspired Christian martyrdom. In Christianity, a martyr, in accordance with the meaning of the original Greek martys in the New Testament, is one who brings a testimony, in particular, the testimony is that of the Christian Gospel, or more generally, the Word of God. A Christian witness is a biblical witness whether or not death follows, however, over time many Christian testimonies were rejected, and the witnesses put to death, and the word martyr developed its present sense. Where death ensues, the follow the example of Jesus in offering up their lives for truth. The concept of Jesus as a martyr has recently received greater attention, analyses of the Gospel passion narratives have led many scholars to conclude that they are martyrdom accounts in terms of genre and style. Several scholars have concluded that Paul the Apostle understood Jesus death as a martyrdom

40.
The Prince
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The Prince is a 16th-century political treatise, by the Italian diplomat and political theorist, Niccolò Machiavelli. From correspondence a version appears to have distributed in 1513, using a Latin title. However, the version was not published until 1532, five years after Machiavellis death. This was done with the permission of the Medici pope Clement VII, although it was written as if it were a traditional work in the mirrors for princes style, it is generally agreed that it was especially innovative. It was also in conflict with the dominant Catholic and scholastic doctrines of the time concerning politics and ethics. Although it is short, the treatise is the most remembered of Machiavellis works. It even contributed to the negative connotations of the words politics. In terms of matter it overlaps with the much longer Discourses on Livy. The work has a structure, for the most part indicated by the author himself. In the first sentence Machiavelli uses the state in order to neutrally cover all forms of organization of supreme political power, whether republican or princely. More importantly, and less traditionally, he distinguishes new princedoms from hereditary established princedoms and he deals with hereditary princedoms quickly in Chapter 2, saying that they are much easier to rule. For such a prince, unless extraordinary vices cause him to be hated, normally, these types of works were addressed only to hereditary princes. He thinks Machiavelli may have influenced by Tacitus as well as his own experience. He also ignores the classical distinctions between the good and corrupt forms, for example between monarchy and tyranny, Machiavelli divides the subject of new states into two types, mixed cases and purely new states. To put down the powerful people, not to allow a foreign power to gain reputation. More generally, Machiavelli emphasizes that one should have not only for present problems. One should not “enjoy the benefit of time” but rather the benefit of ones virtue and prudence, in some cases the old king of the conquered kingdom depended on his lords. 16th century France, or in other words France as it was at the time of writing of The Prince, is given by Machiavelli as an example of such a kingdom and these are easy to enter but difficult to hold

The Prince
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Title page of a 1550 edition
The Prince
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A 16th-century Italian impression of the family of Darius III, emperor of Persia, before their conqueror, Alexander the Great. Machiavelli explained that in his time the Near East was again ruled by an empire, the Ottoman empire, with similar characteristics to that of Darius – seen from the viewpoint of a potential conqueror.
The Prince
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Machiavelli described Moses as a conquering prince, who founded new modes and orders by force of arms, which he used willingly to kill many of his own people. The Bible describes the reasons behind his success differently.
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Leo X: a pope, but also a member of the Medici family. Machiavelli suggested they should treat the church as a princedom, as the Borgia family had, in order to conquer Italy, and found new modes and orders.

41.
Charles the Bold
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Charles the Bold, baptised Charles Martin, was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. He was the last Duke of Burgundy from the House of Valois and is also known as Charles the Rash. His early death at the Battle of Nancy at the hands of Swiss mercenaries fighting for René II, Charles the Bold was born in Dijon, the son of Philip the Good and Isabella of Portugal. Before the death of his father in 1467, he bore the title of Count of Charolais, afterwards, he assumed all of his fathers titles, including that of Grand Duke of the West. He was also made a Knight of the Golden Fleece just twenty days after his birth, invested by Charles I, Count of Nevers, Charles was brought up under the direction of Jean dAuxy and early showed great application alike to academic studies and warlike exercises. His fathers court was the most extravagant in Europe at the time, in 1440, at the age of seven, Charles was married to Catherine, daughter of King Charles VII of France and sister of the Dauphin. She was five years older than her husband, and she died in 1446 at the age of 18, in 1454, at the age of 21, Charles married a second time. He wanted to marry a daughter of his distant cousin Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and his father chose Isabella of Bourbon, who was three years younger than he was. Isabella was the daughter of Philip the Goods sister Agnes and a distant cousin of Charles VII of France. Their daughter Mary of Burgundy was Charles only surviving child, she inherited all the Burgundian domains before her marriage to Maximilian of Hapsburg, the son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. Charles was on terms with his brother-in-law Louis, the Dauphin of France. For his third wife, Charles was offered the hand of Louis XIs daughter Anne, the wife he ultimately chose, however, was his second cousin Margaret of York. Upon the death of his father in 1467, Charles was no longer bound by the terms of the Treaty of Arras, and he decided to ally himself with Burgundys old ally England. Louis did his best to prevent or delay the marriage with Margaret, but in the summer of 1468, it was celebrated sumptuously at Bruges, the couple had no children, but Margaret devoted herself to her stepdaughter Mary. After Marys death many years later, she kept Marys two infant children as long as she was allowed. On 12 April 1465, Philip relinquished control of the government of his domains to Charles, who spent the next summer prosecuting the War of the Public Weal against Louis XI. Charles was left master of the field at the Battle of Montlhéry on 13 July 1465, during the negotiations for the treaty, his wife Isabella died suddenly at Les Quesnoy on 25 September, making a political marriage suddenly possible. As part of the treaty, Louis promised him the hand of his infant daughter Anne, with the territories of Champagne and Ponthieu as a dowry, in the meanwhile, Charles obtained the surrender of Ponthieu

42.
John II, Duke of Bourbon
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John de Bourbon, Duke of Bourbon, sometimes referred to as John the Good and The Scourge of the English, was a son of Charles I of Bourbon and Agnes of Burgundy. He was Duke of Bourbon and Auvergne from 1456 to his death, John earned his nicknames John the Good and The Scourge of the English for his efforts in helping drive out the English from France. He was made constable of France in 1483 by his brother Peter and sister-in-law Anne, in an effort to win discontented nobles back to his side, Louis XI of France made great efforts to give out magnificent gifts to certain individuals, John was a recipient of these overtures. According to contemporary chronicles, the King received John in Paris with honours, caresses, pardon, in further attempts to gain the nobles favor, the King proposed a match between his eldest legitimized daughter Marguerite to Johns eldest illegitimate son Louis de Bourbon. The marriage was celebrated in Paris with royal magnificence and the couple were heaped with honors. It has been said despite all of his brilliant marriages, nothing flattered John more than this particular marriage between his son and a legitimized daughter of the King. John is notable for making three brilliant alliances but leaving no legitimate issue, in 1447, his father, the Duke of Bourbon, had his heir married to a daughter of Charles VII, King of France, Joan of Valois. They were duly married at the Château de Moulins, in 1484 at St. However, this succession was strongly contested due to the political strength of Peter and Anne. Within a span of days, Charles was forced to renounce his claims to the Bourbon lands to Peter in exchange for a financial settlement. Johns widow Jeanne would later remarry to John III, Count of Auvergne and by him she became the mother of Madeleine de La Tour dAuvergne, the mother of Catherine de Medici. ASIN B000V1RCR2. de Commynes, Philippe, Jean de Troyes, and Andrew Richard Scoble, The memoirs of Philip de Commines, Lord of Argenton

43.
Antoinette de Maignelais
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Antoinette de Maignelais was the chief mistress of Charles VII of France from 1450 until his death. The Baroness of Villequier by marriage, she replaced her cousin Agnès Sorel as the favourite mistress after Sorels sudden death in 1450. Later in life she was the mistress of Francis II, Duke of Brittany, Antoinette was the daughter of Jean II de Maignelais and Marie de Jouy. Through her father she was a first cousin of Agnès Sorel, even before her cousins death, Antoinette had caught the kings eye. In 1448, when she was fourteen years old, he gave her the lands of Maignelais, in the end, the estate had remained in the dukes possession. In her sixteenth year, shortly after Agnès died, Charles VII married Antoinette to his first gentleman of the bedchamber, André, Baron de Villequier, of Guerche in Touraine. On this occasion the king presented Antoinette with the isles of Oleron, Marennes, the letters granting these advantages are dated October,1450. For her and her husband, the king ordered the construction of the Château de la Guerche and she became a widow after only four years of marriage. In 1458, Charles presented her daughter, Jane de Maignelais, when the king died in 1461, Antoinette became the mistress of Francis II, Duke of Brittany. With Francis II, she had two sons and two daughters and she died peaceably at Francis IIs court in 1474

Antoinette de Maignelais
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Château de la Guerche along the Creuse River

44.
Joan the Lame
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Joan of Burgundy, also known as Joan the Lame, was Queen of France as the first wife of King Philip VI. Joan served as regent while her husband fought on military campaigns during the Hundred Years War, Joan was the daughter of Robert II, Duke of Burgundy, and Agnes of France. Her older sister, Margaret, was the first wife of Louis X of France, Joan married Philip of Valois, Louiss cousin, in July 1313. From 1315 to 1328, they were Count and Countess of Maine, from 1325, they were also Count and Countess of Valois and Anjou. King Philip IVs sons, Louis X, Philip V, and Charles IV, left no surviving male heirs, the Hundred Years War ensued, with Edward III of England, a nephew of Louis X, claiming the French crown. Intelligent and strong-willed, Joan proved a capable regent while her husband fought on military campaigns during the war. However, her nature and power earned both herself and her husband a bad reputation, which was accentuated by her deformity, and she became known as la male royne boiteuse. One chronicler described her as a danger to her enemies in court, Joan died of the plague 12 December 1349. She was buried in the Basilica of Saint Denis, her tomb and her children with Philip VI were, John II. Marie, who married John of Brabant, the son and heir of John III, Duke of Brabant, in 1361, Joans grandnephew, Philip I of Burgundy, died without legitimate issue, ending the male line of the Dukes of Burgundy. Joan is a character in Les Rois maudits, a series of French historical novels by Maurice Druon and she was portrayed by Ghislaine Porret in the 1972 French miniseries adaptation of the series

Joan the Lame
–
Joan the Lame

45.
Louis I, Duke of Bourbon
–
Louis I, called the Lame was Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis and La Marche and the first Duke of Bourbon. Louis was born in Clermont-en-Beauvaisis, the son of Robert, Count of Clermont, Louis mother was Beatrix of Burgundy, heiress of Bourbon and a granddaughter of Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy. He fought on the side in the Battle of the Golden Spurs and in the Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle. In 1310, he was made Grand Chambrier of France, in 1327, Charles IV of France persuaded him to exchange the County of Clermont for that of La Marche, and elevated Bourbon to a duchy-peerage. However, Clermont was restored to him by Philip VI of France in 1331 and he belonged to Philip VIs small circle of trusted advisors. Duke Louis is reported to have been mentally unstable, in particular suffering from nervous breakdowns. He was buried in the church of the Couvent des Jacobins in Paris. In 1310, Louis married Mary of Avesnes, daughter of John II of Avesnes, Count of Hainaut and they had eight children, Peter I, Duke of Bourbon, married Isabella of Valois, had issue. Only her first marriage produced surviving children, Philip James James I, Count of La Marche, killed at the Battle of Brignais, from whom the later royal Bourbons descend. Beatrice of Bourbon, married first at Vincennes in 1334 John of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia as his second wife, married in 1315 Agnès of Chastellus, then between 1330 and 1333 Isabelle of Chastelperron, Jeannette, bâtarde de Bourbon, married in 1310 to Guichard of Chastellus. Louis is a character in Les Rois maudits, a series of French historical novels by Maurice Druon. He was portrayed by Robert Nogaret in the 1972 French miniseries adaptation of the series, de la Thaumassière, Gaspard Thaumas, Histoire de Berry, Vol.3, Imprimerie et Lithographie de A. Jollet,1868. The Encyclopedia Americana, a library of universal knowledge, Vol.4, J. D. Lyon Company, Albany, New York,1919

Louis I, Duke of Bourbon
–
Louis I

46.
Isabella of Valois, Duchess of Bourbon
–
Isabella of Valois, Duchess of Bourbon or Isabella of France, was a Petit Fille of France, and a daughter of Charles of Valois by his third wife Mahaut of Châtillon. She was the wife of Peter I, Duke of Bourbon, on 25 January 1336 Isabella married Peter I, Duke of Bourbon, son of Louis I, Duke of Bourbon and Mary of Avesnes. Peter and Isabella had only one son, Louis and seven daughters and her husband died at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, and Isabella never remarried. After her husbands death Isabellas son Louis became the Duke of Bourbon, in the same year 1356, Isabella arranged for her daughter Joanna to marry Charles V of France, as he was at the time the Dauphin of France, Joanna duly became Dauphine. Louis II, Duke of Bourbon, 1337-1410, became Duke of Bourbon in 1356 married Anne of Auvergne had issue, Joanna of Bourbon, 1338-1378, married King Charles V of France, had issue. Blanche of Bourbon, 1339-1361, married King Peter of Castile, bonne of Bourbon, 1341-1402, married Amadeus VI of Savoy, by whom she had issue. Catherine of Bourbon, 1342-1427, married John VI of Harcourt Margaret of Bourbon, 1344-1416, married Arnaud Amanieu, Lord of Albret, by whom she had issue. Isabelle of Bourbon, 1345-1345, died young Marie of Bourbon, 1347-1401 and she was buried in Eglise des Frères Mineurs in Paris

Isabella of Valois, Duchess of Bourbon
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Isabella of Valois
Isabella of Valois, Duchess of Bourbon
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Isabella in her later years

47.
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor
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Louis IV, called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328. He obtained the titles Count of Hainaut, Holland, Zeeland, Louis was born in Munich, the son of Louis II, Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine, and Matilda, a daughter of King Rudolph I. A civil war against his brother Rudolf due to new disputes on the partition of their lands was ended in 1313, in the same year, on November 9, Louis defeated his Habsburg cousin Frederick the Fair who was further aided by duke Leopold I. Originally, he was a friend of Frederick, with whom he had been raised. However, armed conflict arose when the guardianship over the young Dukes of Lower Bavaria was entrusted to Frederick, even though the late Duke Otto III, on 9 November 1313, Frederick was defeated by Louis in the Battle of Gamelsdorf and had to renounce the tutelage. This victory caused a stir within the Holy Roman Empire and increased the reputation of the Bavarian Duke, the death of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII in August 1313 necessitated the election of a successor. Henrys son John, King of Bohemia since 1310, seemed too powerful to most prince-electors, the most likely choice was Frederick the Fair, the son of Henrys predecessor, Albert I, of the House of Habsburg. In reaction, the party among the prince electors settled on Louis as its candidate to prevent Fredericks election. On 19 October 1314, Archbishop Henry II Cologne chaired an assembly of four electors assembled at Sachsenhausen and these four elector chose Frederick as King. The Luxemburg party did not accept this election and the day a second election was held. Upon the instigation of Peter of Aspelt, Archbishop of Mainz, five different electors convened at Frankfurt, in the following conflict between the kings, Louis recognized in 1316 the independence of Switzerland from the Habsburg dynasty. After several years of war, victory finally seemed within the grasp of Frederick. However, Fredericks army was defeated in the Battle of Mühldorf on 28 September 1322 on the Ampfing Heath. In this agreement, Frederick recognized Louis as legitimate ruler and undertook to return to captivity if he did not succeed in convincing his brothers to submit to Louis. As he did not manage to overcome Leopolds obstinacy, Frederick returned to Munich as a prisoner, Louis, who was impressed by such nobility, renewed the old friendship with Frederick, and they agreed to rule the Empire jointly. However, after Leopolds death in 1326, Frederick withdrew from the regency of the Empire and he died on 13 January 1330. After the reconciliation with the Habsburgs in 1326, Louis marched to Italy and was crowned King of Italy in Milan in 1327. Already in 1323 Louis had sent an army to Italy to protect Milan against the Kingdom of Naples, but now the Lord of Milan Galeazzo I Visconti was deposed since he was suspected of conspiring with the pope

48.
Beatrice of Silesia
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Beatrice of Silesia was a Polish princess member of the House of Piast in the Silesian branch of Jawor-Świdnica and by marriage Duchess of Bavaria and German Queen. She was the daughter of Bolko I the Strict, Duke of Jawor-Świdnica, by his wife Beatrice, daughter of Otto V. Beatrice was the third of ten born to her mother and father. Her siblings included, Bernard of Świdnica, Henry I of Jawor, Bolko II of Ziębice and Judith, wife of Stephen I, Duke of Bavaria. Seven years after the death of Beatrices father and the birth of her posthumous sister, Anna, from this marriage, Beatrice and her siblings gained two half-siblings, Casimir of Koźle and Euphemia, wife of Konrad I of Oleśnica. It was this brother Bernard who, wanting to secure an alliance with Bavaria, arranged Beatrices marriage to Louis IV, the wedding took place by 14 October 1308. Duke Louis IV was elected German King on 20 October 1314, however, another faction had elected Frederick I of Austria as King on 19 October. The two rival Kings would continue their dispute for the rest of her life and she was one of two rival German queens, with Isabella of Aragon, wife of Frederick I. Beatrice died, at Munich, a time before her husbands coronation as Holy Roman Emperor. Two years after her death, Louis IV was remarried to Margaret II, Louis and Beatrix had six children, three of them lived to adulthood, Mathilde, married at Nuremberg 1 July 1329 Frederick II, Margrave of Meissen Daughter. Louis V the Brandenburger, duke of Upper Bavaria, margrave of Brandenburg, Stephen II, duke of Lower Bavaria

Beatrice of Silesia
–
Beatrice of Silesia

49.
Frederick III of Sicily
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Frederick II was the regent and subsequently King of Sicily from 1295 until his death. He was the son of Peter III of Aragon and served in the War of the Sicilian Vespers on behalf of his father and brothers, Alfonso ΙΙΙ. He was confirmed as King of Trinacria by the Peace of Caltabellotta in 1302 and his reign saw important constitutional reforms, the Constitutiones regales, Capitula alia, and Ordinationes generales. Thus, Fridericus tertius was better in line with the precedent of his ancestors ordinal, however, an anecdote attributes Fredericks choice of numeral to him being the third son of Peter. The next man called Frederick to occupy the Sicilian throne was dubbed by later generations of historians as Frederick III, Frederick III the Simple, Frederick was born in Barcelona to Peter III of Aragon and Constance of Sicily, daughter of King Manfred of Sicily. When his father died in 1285, he left the Kingdom of Aragon to his eldest son, Alfonso, when Alfonso died in 1291, James became king of Aragon and left Frederick as regent in Sicily. Peace negotiations were begun with Charles II of Naples, but were interrupted by the deaths of two popes. The Sicilians refused to be made once more to the hated French they had expelled in 1282. In vain the pope tried to bribe him with promises and dignities, he was determined to stand by his subjects, and was crowned king by the nobles at Palermo in 1296. Young, brave, and handsome, he won the love and devotion of his people, and guided them through long years of storm and stress with wisdom and ability. When Frederick heard that James was preparing to go to war with him, he sent a messenger, Mountainer Pérez de Sosa, to Catalonia in an effort to stir up the barons and cities against James in 1298. Mountainer carried with him an Occitan poem, Ges per guerra no. m chal aver consir and this poetic transaction is usually dated to January–March, Spring, or August 1296, but Gerónimo Zurita in the seventeenth century specifically dated the embassy of Mountainer to 1298. Frederick reformed the administration and extended the powers of the Sicilian parliament, which was composed of the barons, the prelates, and his refusal to comply with the popes injunctions led to a renewal of the war. In the meanwhile James, who received many favours from the Church, married his sister Yolanda to Robert, the third son of Charles II. Charles’s sons Robert and Philip landed in Sicily, but after capturing Catania were defeated by Frederick, Philip being taken prisoner, at Fredericks death, the kingdom was to revert to the Angevins and Fredericks children would receive compensation elsewhere. Boniface tried to induce King Charles to break the treaty, finally, in May 1303, the pope ratified the treaty, albeit with changes and additions, which included Frederick agreeing to pay him a tribute. For a few years Sicily enjoyed peace, and the kingdom was reorganized and he set sail for Tuscany to cooperate with the emperor, but on the latter’s death he returned to Sicily. Robert, who had succeeded Charles II in 1309, made raids into the island

Frederick III of Sicily
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Frederick III
Frederick III of Sicily
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Frederick II, swears an oath to Pope Honorius III, in which he undertakes to protect and preserve the possessions of the Roman Catholic Church, to defend the Reign of Sicily, and to confirm such engagements in the future, when crowned Holy Roman Emperor. Given in Haguenau, September 1219 (recto of the parchment with the gold seal of the Frederick II. The document is currently stored in the Vatican Secret Archives.

50.
Eleanor of Anjou
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Eleanor of Anjou was the Queen consort of Frederick III of Sicily. She was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou by birth and she was the third daughter of Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hungary. Eleanor was firstly married in 1299 to Philip de Toucy, son of Narjot de Toucy and their marriage was dissolved on 17 January 1300 by Pope Boniface VIII because they were related and had not sought permission from the pope to marry. On 17 May 1302, Eleanor married secondly to Frederick III of Sicily and her father and her new husband had been engaged in a war for ascendancy in the Mediterranean Sea and especially Sicily and the Mezzogiorno. The marriage was part of an effort to establish peaceful relations which would lead to the Peace of Caltabellotta. The peace divided the old Kingdom of Sicily into an island portion, thus, the peace was formal recognition of an uneasy status quo. She was buried at a Franciscan monastery in Catania

Eleanor of Anjou
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Eleanor with her sisters in the Bible of Naples

51.
Taddea Visconti
–
Taddea Visconti, Duchess of Bavaria was an Italian noblewoman of the Visconti family, the ruling house in Milan from 1277 to 1447. She was the first wife of Stephen III, Duke of Bavaria, born in Milan in 1351, sometime after 27 June, Taddea was the eldest child of Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan, and Beatrice Regina della Scala. She had sixteen siblings, but she was her parents favorite child. Her paternal grandparents were Stefano Visconti, Lord of Milan, and Valentina Doria, Bavaria was the wealthiest and most powerful of the German states at the time. Bernabò managed to secure the marriages of four of his children to members of the ruling Wittelsbach family, Taddea, being the eldest, was the first of the four Visconti children selected. In 1367, Taddea became the first wife of Stephen III of Bavaria-Ingolstadt and he ruled jointly with his brothers, Frederick and John II, in Bavaria-Landshut. Taddea brought a dowry of 100,000 gold ducats and her husband Stephen is described by historian Barbara Tuchman as reckless, prodigal, ostentatious, amorous, restless without a tournament or war and well-suited to a Visconti daughter. The marriage produced three children, Louis VII, Duke of Bavaria, married firstly Anne de Bourbon, by whom he had issue and he had several illegitimate children by various mistresses. Isabeau of Bavaria, Queen consort of King Charles VI of France, unnamed son Adjustment to life in Bavaria proved a difficult challenge for Taddea, prompting her, in later years, to take extended journeys abroad. The climate of Munich did not prove healthy for her, and she developed a persistent cough, after Stephen III became duke, Taddea was required to attend more state functions, her health notwithstanding. In the 1370s, she began to pay visits to her homeland, usually bringing her husband and children with her. After a trip to Milan in December 1380, Taddea fell seriously ill, by the time she returned to Bavaria, she was suffering from fever, coughing and weight loss. Her health continued to fail and she died on 28 September 1381 in Munich at the age of 30 and she was buried in Unsere Liebe Frau. When news of her death reached Milan, her father ordered his subjects to wear mourning clothes. Less than four years later, her daughter, Isabeau, became Queen of France, taddeas husband Stephen married secondly, on 16 January 1401, Elisabeth of Cleves, daughter of Count Adolf III of Cleves

52.
Mastino II della Scala
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Mastino II della Scala was lord of Verona. He was a member of the famous Scaliger family of northern Italy and he was the son of Alboino I della Scala and Beatrice da Correggio. At the death of Cangrande I, he and his brother Alberto II were associated in the rule of Verona, soon, however, Mastinos independent attitude overshadowed the brothers presence. In the first part of his reign, abandoning the careful policy of balance held by his father, he conquered Brescia, Parma in Lombardy, however, the extension of Mastinos power spurred the creation of League of all the other local powers. In the first year of war he managed to resist, but in 1336 the League was joined by Azzone Visconti of Milan, the Este of Ferrara, the Gonzaga of Mantua and the Papal States. Surrounded by every side, he could ask for a treaty of peace through the intermediation of Emperor Louis IV of Bavaria. His territories were restricted to Verona and Vicenza, the remaining split among the victorious enemies. An attempt to part of his lands with the German mercenaries that had remained in Vicenza after the war. He died in Verona in 1351 and he is buried in the Gothic mausoleum near the church of Santa Maria Antica, in one of the Scaliger Tombs. In 1328 he married Taddea da Carrara and Anna Gradenigo. M

Mastino II della Scala
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Statue of Mastino II della Scala. Once located on the top of his tomb, one of the Scaliger Tombs, it is now in the Castelvecchio Museum at Verona.

53.
Beatrice Regina della Scala
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Beatrice Regina della Scala was an Italian noblewoman, a member of the Scaliger family of Northern Italy. She was the wife of Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan, Beatrice Regina was born in Verona in 1331, the youngest child and only daughter of Mastino II della Scala and Taddea da Carrara. She had three brothers, and five illegitimate half-siblings. Her father, who was a member of the Scaliger family of Northern Italy, was Lord of Verona, Vicenza, Brescia, Parma, on 27 September 1350 in Verona, Beatrice Regina was married to Bernabò Visconti, son of Stefano Visconti and Valentina Doria. She was nineteen years of age and he was twenty-seven, the marriage welded a powerful political alliance between Milan and Verona. He assumed power as Lord of Milan in 1354, henceforth and it has been claimed that Bernabò was a cruel and ruthless despot, and an implacable enemy of the Church. He seized the city of Bologna, rejected the Pope and his authority, confiscated ecclesiastical property. He was excommunicated as a heretic in 1363 by Pope Urban V, when Bernabò was in one of his frequent rages, only Beatrice Regina was able to approach him. Marco Visconti, married Elisabeth of Bavaria Rodolfo Visconti, Lord of Parma Ludovico Visconti, married Violante Visconti and they had a son, Giovanni, who left descendants. Carlo Visconti, married Beatrice of Armagnac, daughter of John II, Count of Armagnac and Jeanne de Périgord, agnese Visconti, married in 1380 Francesco I Gonzaga, by whom she had one daughter. Agnes was executed for alleged adultery, Antonia Visconti, married Eberhard III, Count of Wurttemberg, by whom she had three sons. Mastino Visconti, married Antonia della Scala, daughter of Cangrande II, giammastino Visconti, married Cleofa della Scala, by whom he had three children. She was the daughter of Cangrande II, lucia Visconti, married Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent, the marriage was childless. Elisabetta Visconti, married on 26 January 1395 Ernest, Duke of Bavaria, by whom she had five children including Albert III, Bernabò fathered at least twelve illegitimate children by a variety of mistresses. Beatrice Regina died on 18 June 1384 at the age of fifty-three years, a year and a half later, her husband was deposed and later poisoned by his nephew and son-in-law Gian Galeazzo Visconti, who in 1395 became the first Duke of Milan. She gave her name to the church of Santa Maria alla Scala in Milan, and by extension, charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Lords of Milan Barbara W. Tuchman, A Distant Mirror, Alfred A. Knopf Inc

54.
Adoration of the Magi in art
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It is related in the Bible by Matthew 2,11, On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another path. The scene was used to represent the Nativity, one of the most indispensable episodes in cycles of the Life of the Virgin as well as the Life of Christ. In the church calendar, the event is commemorated in Western Christianity as the Feast of the Epiphany, the Orthodox Church commemorates the Adoration of the Magi on the Feast of the Nativity. The term is anglicized from the Vulgate Latin section title for this passage, in the earliest depictions, the Magi are shown wearing Persian dress of trousers and Phrygian caps, usually in profile, advancing in step with their gifts held out before them. The earliest are from catacomb paintings and sarcophagus reliefs of the 4th century, crowns are first seen in the 10th century, mostly in the West, where their dress had by that time lost any Oriental flavour in most cases. Later Byzantine images often show small pill-box like hats, whose significance is disputed, melchior represents Europe and middle age. From the 14th century onwards, large retinues are often shown, the gifts are contained in spectacular pieces of work. The subject matter is found in stained glass. Many hundreds of artists have treated the subject, a partial list of those with articles follows. See also, Category, Adoration of the Magi in art, Adoration of the Magi, Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C. Hieronymus Bosch, Museo del Prado, Madrid Adoration of the Magi of 1475, Botticelli, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C

Adoration of the Magi in art
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Adoration of the Magi, Hans Memling
Adoration of the Magi in art
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Adoration of the Magi after Hieronymus Bosch
Adoration of the Magi in art
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Adoration of the Magi by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, 17th century
Adoration of the Magi in art
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4th century Sarcophagus, Vatican

55.
George Bernard Shaw
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He wrote more than sixty plays, including major works such as Man and Superman, Pygmalion and Saint Joan. With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation, born in Dublin, Shaw moved to London in 1873, where he established himself as a writer and novelist. By the mid-1880s he was a theatre and music critic. Following a political awakening, he joined the gradualist Fabian Society, Shaw had been writing plays for years before his first public success, 1894s Arms and the Man. Influenced by Henrik Ibsen, he sought to introduce a new realism into English-language drama, using his plays as vehicles to disseminate his political, social and religious ideas. By the early twentieth century his reputation as a dramatist was secured with a series of critical and popular successes that included Major Barbara, The Doctors Dilemma and Caesar, Shaws expressed views were often contentious, he promoted eugenics and alphabet reform while opposing vaccination and organised religion. He courted unpopularity by denouncing both sides in the First World War as equally culpable and he castigated British policy on Ireland in the postwar period, and became a citizen of the Irish Free State in 1934, maintaining dual citizenship. He was prolific, finishing during the years a series of often ambitious plays which achieved varying degrees of popular success. Since Shaws death, opinion has varied about his works and he has at times been rated as second only to William Shakespeare among English-language dramatists, analysts recognise his extensive influence on generations of playwrights. The word Shavian has entered the language as encapsulating Shaws ideas, Shaw was born at 3 Upper Synge Street in Portobello, a lower-middle-class part of Dublin. He was the youngest child and only son of George Carr Shaw and his elder siblings were Lucinda Frances and Elinor Agnes. The Shaw family was of English descent and belonged to the dominant Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland, George Carr Shaw and his relatives secured him a sinecure in the civil service, from which he was pensioned off in the early 1850s, thereafter he worked irregularly as a corn merchant. In 1852 he married Bessie Gurly, in the view of Shaws biographer Michael Holroyd she married to escape a tyrannical great-aunt, if, as Holroyd and others surmise, Georges motives were mercenary, then he was disappointed, as Bessie brought him little of her familys money. She came to despise her ineffectual and often drunken husband, with whom she shared what their son later described as a life of shabby-genteel poverty. By the time of Shaws birth, his mother had become close to George John Lee, Shaw retained a lifelong obsession that Lee might have been his biological father, there is no consensus among Shavian scholars on the likelihood of this. The young Shaw suffered no harshness from his mother, but he recalled that her indifference. He found solace in the music that abounded in the house, Lee was a conductor and teacher of singing, Bessie had a fine mezzo-soprano voice and was much influenced by Lees unorthodox method of vocal production. The Shaws house was filled with music, with frequent gatherings of singers and players

56.
Henry VI Part III
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Henry VI, Part 3 is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591, and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England. It was the success of this sequence of plays which firmly established Shakespeares reputation as a playwright, Henry VI, Part 3 features the longest soliloquy in all of Shakespeare, and has more battle scenes than any other of Shakespeares plays. The play begins where 2 Henry VI left off, with the victorious Yorkists pursuing Henry, upon reaching the parliamentary chambers in London, York seats himself in the throne, and a confrontation ensues between his supporters and Henrys. Margaret attacks Yorks castle at Wakefield, and the Yorkists lose the ensuing battle, during the conflict, Clifford murders Yorks twelve-year-old son, Rutland. However, George Plantagenet, Richard and Edwards brother, has vowed to join their cause, having been encouraged to do so by his sister, additionally, Warwick has been joined in the conflict by his own younger brother, Montague. The Yorkists regroup, and at the Battle of Towton, Clifford is killed, following the battle, Edward is proclaimed king, George is proclaimed Duke of Clarence and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, although he complains to Edward that this is an ominous dukedom. King Edward and George then leave the court, and Richard reveals to the audience his ambition to rise to power and take the throne from his brother, although as yet he is unsure how to go about it. After Towton, Warwick goes to France to secure for Edward the hand of Louis XIs sister-in-law, Lady Bona, thus ensuring peace between the two nations by uniting in marriage their two monarchies. Warwick arrives at the French court to find that Margaret, Prince Edward, just as Louis is about to agree to supply Margaret with troops, Warwick intervenes, and convinces Louis that it is in his interests to support Edward and approve the marriage. Back in England, however, the recently widowed Lady Grey has come to King Edward requesting her late husbands lands be returned to her, rather than granting her suit, however, captivated by her beauty Edward marries her, against the advice of both George and Richard. Shortly thereafter, George and Montague also defect to the Lancastrians, Warwick then invades England with French troops, and Edward is taken prisoner. Henry is restored to the throne, and appoints Warwick and George as his Lords Protector, soon thereafter, however, Edward is rescued by Richard, Hastings and Stanley. News of the escape reaches Henrys court, and the young Earl of Richmond is sent into exile in France for safety, meanwhile, Edward reorganises his forces, and confronts Warwicks army. At the Battle of Barnet, George betrays Warwick, and rejoins the Yorkists and this throws Warwicks forces into disarray, and the Yorkists win the battle, during which both Warwick and Montague are killed. Oxford and the Duke of Somerset now assume command of the Lancastrian forces, meanwhile, Henry sits on the molehill York was on and laments his problems. He is met by a father who has killed his son, Henry is captured by two gamekeepers loyal to Edward, and imprisoned in the Tower of London, while Edward goes to meet the Lancastrian/French force. In the subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury the Yorkists rout the Lancastrians, capturing Margaret, Prince Edward, Somerset, at this point, Richard goes to London to kill Henry. At Richards arrival at the Tower, the two argue, and in a rage Richard stabs Henry, with his dying breath, Henry prophesies Richards future villainy and the chaos that will engulf the country

Henry VI Part III
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First page of The third Part of Henry the Sixt, with the death of the Duke of Yorke from the First Folio (1623).
Henry VI Part III
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T. Brown engraving of The Death of the Earl of Warwick by John Adam Houston, from The Works of Shakespeare: Imperial Edition, edited by Charles Knight (1870)
Henry VI Part III
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Title page from the 1550 edition of Edward Hall 's The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancaster and York.
Henry VI Part III
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The Murder of Rutland by Charles Robert Leslie (1815)

57.
The Maid of Orleans (opera)
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The Maid of Orleans is an opera in 4 acts,6 scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Dedicated to conductor Eduard Nápravník, this represents the composers closest approach to French grand opera, albeit in the Russian language. The world premiere was given on 25 February,1881, at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, peasant Thibault of Arc is annoyed by their levity at such a terrible time for the fatherland. He is concerned about the fate of his daughter, Joan who is seventeen, an alarm sounds announcing the fall of Paris and the siege of Orleans. In a panic, the citizens pray for salvation, inspired, the girl says goodbye to her birthplace, hearing voices of angels blessing her heroic endeavor. Entracte Chorus of Minstrels Gypsy Dance Dance of the Pages & Dwarves Dance of the Clowns & Tumblers Scena & Duet Agness Arioso & Duettino Scena & Archbishops Narration Joans Narration Finale, in Château de Chinon the king is being entertained forgetting his duty with his beloved Agnès Sorel. Minstrels, pages, gypsies, clowns follow each other, the king is paralyzed by inaction. Neither the appearance of Knight Lauret, mortally wounded in the battle, nor the resignation of courageous Knight Dunois, the archbishop suddenly appears, courtiers and people tell the king about the rout of the British, the French victory, and the glorious Maiden who inspired the soldiers. Joan tells the audience about the vision she had telling her to lead the fight. A vow of virginity was a condition of that victory, on the orders of king, Joan is put in command of the army. Tableau 1 and Tableau 2 Scena & Duet March Scena & Duettino Finale Scene 1 Deep in the woods Joan fights Knight Lionel of Burgundy and he is struck, the helmet with a visor falls. Conquered by his young face, she cannot kill him. Lionel is moved by the generosity of Joan, Rumor has it that you do not spare enemies, why mercy for me and she is shocked by her awakened feelings, remembering the vow. Lionel decides to side with the French and offers his sword to Dunois, in the heart of the recent enemy, a love for Joan grows. Scene 2 The nation celebrates the king and Joan - the victor and her father, however, believes that all the acts of his daughter are the devils work and decides to save her soul, even at the cost of her life. Joan does not answer, tormented by her love for Lionel, Dunois attempts to protect the heroine, frightened by a clap of thunder, the citizens, considering it a judgment from heaven, renounce her. Lionel tries to protect her, but Joan drives him away, introduction & Scena Duet & Scena Final Scena Scene 1 Joan is alone, abandoned in the remote woods. To a mortal how dare I give the promised to the creator

58.
The Saracen (opera)
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The Saracen, is an opera by César Cui composed during 1896-1898. The libretto was written by Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov and the composer, the opera was premiered on 2 November 1899, in Saint Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theatre, with Eduard Nápravník as conductor. It was staged also in 1902 by the Moscow Private Opera at the Solodovnikov Theatre, the Saracen can be understood to some extent as a sequel to Tchaikovskys opera The Maid of Orleans in that later events involving the same French monarch are involved. A chorus of archers makes merry while the Count is away, when André shows everyone the stag that he has just killed, Yaqoub relates a story about how he as a boy in Egypt had killed a lion preying on his fathers herd. Raymond enters, reminding Yaqoub of saving the life, and presents a letter from Pope Benedict XIII, to which all. The noise of calls for his death brings in Bérangère, who dismisses everyone except for Yaqoub and she asks him what the trouble is, and he relates what his life was like before being taken prisoner by Raymond. When she tells that her own suffering is greater than his, he sees her as a comforting angel, the Chaplain enters with the people to say prayers for Savoisy to have an heir. He reads from the Biblical story of Sarah, Abraham, as they pray, Raymond commands Yaqoub to kneel, but the Saracens refusal brings about a conflict in which Yaqoub kills Raymond with a dagger. Count Savoisy appears on the scene and calls for a trial of Yaqoub, the Chaplain tells Bérangère that her marriage to the Count is dissolved by papal decree, and that she must go to a convent. After making sure that the Chaplain has taken care of the matter, when the court enters for the trial of Yaqoub, a page announces that the King is arriving, thus giving Savoisy a chance to hold the trial in the Kings presence. After the King and Agnès enter, Yaqoub defends himself on the grounds that he has been deprived of his freedom, Savoisy pronounces a sentence of death, but the King intervenes and pardons Yaqoub. The King dismisses everyone except Savoisy in order to discuss the latters loyalty and it turns out that the reason for the Kings presence is to go hunting. When Agnès calls the King to bed, Savoisy, alone, Savoisy, still on guard, hopes that there will be news of victory for France so that the King will take action. The King and Agnès greet the new day and he would rather be in her arms than under a crown. Outside, though, rumblings can be heard, Savoisy enters, insisting on the Kings service for France, but the latter decides to go hunting, and exits. Savoisy prevents Agnès from going along and convinces her that she has caused the King to be distracted from his royal duties, the King enters, and learns from Dunois that his commanders have been captured. When she tells the King that he is not acting as a monarch of his country and that she will go to join the winner of the war. Savoisy is surprised to find her and she begs forgiveness, but he tells her that it is too late

The Saracen (opera)
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Operas by César Cui
The Saracen (opera)
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Yershov in the role of Charles VII from the premiere production of 1899

59.
Giuseppe Verdi
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Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian opera composer. Verdi was born near Busseto to a family of moderate means. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini, whose works influenced him. In his early operas Verdi demonstrated a sympathy with the Risorgimento movement which sought the unification of Italy and he also participated briefly as an elected politician. He surprised the world by returning, after his success with the opera Aida. The baptismal register, prepared on 11 October 1813, lists his parents Carlo, additionally, it lists Verdi as being born yesterday, but since days were often considered to begin at sunset, this could have meant either 9 or 10 October. Verdi himself, following his mother, always celebrated his birthday on 9 October, Verdi had a younger sister, Giuseppa, who died aged 17 in 1833. From the age of four, Verdi was given lessons in Latin and Italian by the village schoolmaster, Baistrocchi. After learning to play the organ, he showed so much interest in music that his parents provided him with a spinet. Verdis gift for music was apparent by 1820–21 when he began his association with the local church, serving in the choir, acting as an altar boy for a while. After Baistrocchis death, Verdi, at the age of eight, Carlo Verdi was energetic in furthering his sons education. something which Verdi tended to hide in later life. He picture emerges of youthful precocity eagerly nurtured by a father and of a sustained, sophisticated. Verdi returned to Busseto regularly to play the organ on Sundays, at age 11, Verdi received schooling in Italian, Latin, the humanities, and rhetoric. By the time he was 12, he began lessons with Ferdinando Provesi, maestro di cappella at San Bartolomeo, director of the music school. This information comes from the Autobiographical Sketch which Verdi dictated to the publisher Giulio Ricordi late in life, in 1879, written, understandably, with the benefit of hindsight, it is not always reliable when dealing with issues more contentious than those of his childhood. The other director of the Philharmonic Society was Antonio Barezzi, a grocer and distiller. The young Verdi did not immediately become involved with the Philharmonic, by June 1827, he had graduated with honours from the Ginnasio and was able to focus solely on music under Provesi. By 1829–30, Verdi had established himself as a leader of the Philharmonic, none of us could rival him reported the secretary of the organisation, Giuseppe Demaldè

60.
Temistocle Solera
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Temistocle Solera was an Italian opera composer and librettist. He received his education at the Imperial College in Vienna and at the University of Pavia, throughout his life he actively participated in anti-Austrian resistance. At one point, he was incarcerated for his activities and he completed several literary works, including the novel Michelino, his style influenced by Alessandro Manzoni. He then found work as a librettist, his collaboration with the composer Giuseppe Verdi began in 1839, Solera then found work as the impresario for the Royal Theatre in Madrid. He died in Milan in 1878, operaGlass Loreta de Stasio y José María Nadal. Sobre el libreto de La conquista di Granata, de Temistocle Solera, publicado en Mundoclasico. com el 7 July 2006 Mundoclasico. com

Temistocle Solera
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Temistocle Solera.

61.
Neil Patrick Harris
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Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, comedian, magician, singer, and composer, known primarily for his comedy roles on television and his dramatic and musical stage roles. On television, he is known for playing the character on Doogie Howser. Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother, and Count Olaf on A Series of Unfortunate Events. Harris is also known for his role as the character in Joss Whedons musical Dr. Horribles Sing-Along Blog. His other films include Starship Troopers, Beastly, The Smurfs, The Smurfs 2, A Million Ways to Die in the West, and Gone Girl. In 2014, he starred in the role in Hedwig. Harris has hosted the Tony Awards in 2009,2011,2012 and he also hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2009 and 2013, and hosted the 87th Academy Awards in 2015, thus making him the first openly gay man to host the Academy Awards. Harris was named one of Time magazines 100 Most Influential People in 2010 and he is married to David Burtka with whom he has two children. Harris was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and grew up Ruidoso, New Mexico, with his brother and their parents, Sheila Gail. His parents were lawyers and also ran a restaurant and he attended La Cueva High School in Albuquerque, graduating with high honors in 1991. Harris began his career as an actor and was discovered by playwright Mark Medoff at a drama camp in Las Cruces. Medoff later cast him in the 1988 drama film Claras Heart, Claras Heart earned Harris a Golden Globe nomination. The same year, he starred in Purple People Eater, a childrens fantasy, Harris first film role as an adult was 1995s Animal Room, although he portrayed a teenager. His subsequent film work has included supporting roles in The Next Best Thing, Undercover Brother, and Starship Troopers. In 2010, Harris provided voice acting for the role of the adult Dick Grayson in the animated film Batman, Under the Red Hood, the same year, he played the lead in the indie comedy The Best and the Brightest. On March 7,2010, he made an appearance at the 82nd Academy Awards. He starred in the films The Smurfs and The Smurfs 2, in 2014, Harris showed a more serious side in Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher. Harris co-starred in the film as Desi Collings, the wealthy and obsessed ex-boyfriend of Amy Dunne, Harris has said, I was pinching myself at the opportunity to work with Fincher, he received general praise from critics for his performance, as did the film

62.
Capetian dynasty
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The Capetian dynasty /kəˈpiːʃən/, also known as the House of France, is a dynasty of Frankish origin, founded by Hugh Capet. It is among the largest and oldest royal houses in Europe and the world, the senior line ruled in France as the House of Capet from the election of Hugh Capet in 987 until the death of Charles IV in 1328. They were succeeded by cadet branches, the Houses of Valois and Bourbon, the dynasty had a crucial role in the formation of the French state. Initially obeyed only in their own demesne, the Île-de-France, the Capetian kings slowly but steadily increased their power, for a detailed narration on the growth of French royal power, see Crown lands of France. Members of the dynasty were traditionally Catholic, the early Capetians had an alliance with the Church. The French were also the most active participants in the Crusades, culminating in a series of five Crusader Kings – Louis VII, Philip Augustus, Louis VIII, Saint Louis, the Capetian alliance with the papacy suffered a severe blow after the disaster of the Aragonese Crusade. Philip IIIs son and successor, Philip IV, humiliated a pope, the later Valois, starting with Francis I, ignored religious differences and allied with the Ottoman Sultan to counter the growing power of the Holy Roman Empire. Henry IV was a Protestant at the time of his accession, the Capetians generally enjoyed a harmonious family relationship. By tradition, younger sons and brothers of the King of France are given appanages for them to maintain their rank, when Capetian cadets did aspire for kingship, their ambitions were directed not at the French throne, but at foreign thrones. Through this, the Capetians spread widely over Europe, in modern times, both King Felipe VI of Spain and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg are members of this family, both through the Bourbon branch of the dynasty. Along with the House of Habsburg, it was one of the two most powerful continental European royal families, dominating European politics for five centuries. The name of the dynasty derives from its founder, Hugh, the meaning of Capet is unknown. While folk etymology identifies it with cape, other suggestions suggest it to be connected to the Latin word caput, historians in the 19th century came to apply the name Capetian to both the ruling house of France and to the wider-spread male-line descendants of Hugh Capet. It was not a contemporary practice, the name Capet has also been used as a surname for French royalty, particularly but not exclusively those of the House of Capet. One notable use was during the French Revolution, when the dethroned King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were referred to as Louis, the dynastic surname now used to describe Hugh Capets family prior to his election as King of France is Robertians or Robertines. The name is derived from the familys first certain ancestor, Robert the Strong, Robert was probably son of Robert III of Worms and grandson of Robert of Hesbaye. The Robertians probably originated in the county Hesbaye, around Tongeren in modern-day Belgium, the sons of Robert the Strong were Odo and Robert, who both ruled as king of Western Francia. The family became Counts of Paris under Odo and Dukes of the Franks under Robert, the Carolingian dynasty ceased to rule France upon the death of Louis V

63.
Duke of Touraine
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Duke of Touraine was a title in the Peerage of France, relating to Touraine. It was first created in 1360 for Philip, youngest son of King John II of France and he returned the duchy to the Crown in 1363 on being made Duke of Burgundy and died in 1404. The next creation was in 1386 for Louis, youngest son of King Charles V of France and he returned the duchy to the Crown in 1392 on being made Duke of Orléans and died in 1407. The third creation was in 1401 for John, fourth son of King Charles VI of France and he became Dauphin of France in 1415 and died unmarried in 1417. The next creation was in 1416 for Charles, youngest son of King Charles VI of France and he succeeded as King Charles VII of France in 1422 when the title merged in the Crown. The fifth creation was in 1423 for the Scottish nobleman Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas and he was killed at the Battle of Verneuil in 1424. His son Lord Wigtown, absent in Scotland, was believed in France to have died without issue, when it became apparent that Wigtown had succeeded his father as Earl of Douglas, he was confirmed in the title Duke of Touraine, though not the lands. He died in 1439 and the line of the fourth Earl of Douglas became extinct on the death of William Douglas. The land of Touraine was given, by letters-patent in Bourges on 21 October 1424, to Louis III of Anjou, King of Sicily. In 1528, the land of Touraine was given by Francis I of France to his mother Louise of Savoy as an exchange with the Duchy of Nemours, given to her in 1523. The next creation was in 1576 for Francis, youngest son of King Henry II of France and he died unmarried in 1584, when the title became extinct. The title of Duke of Touraine was awarded in 1981 by the legitimist pretender, Alphonse of Bourbon, Duke of Cadiz and Duke of Anjou, to his second son Louis Alphonse. Following his brothers death in 1984 and his fathers one in 1989, he became, under the same pretention, Duke of Bourbon. He is the current legitimist pretender to the title of King of France as Louis XX. As pretender, he has not, so far, re-created the title, conferring on his twin sons, the titles of Dauphin of France, Duke of Burgundy and Duke of Berry respectively

Duke of Touraine
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Arms of Philippe, Duke of Touraine, later Philip II, Duke of Burgundy. Nowadays, they are arms of Touraine and Indre-et-Loire

64.
Duke of Berry
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The title of Duke of Berry or Duchess of Berry in the French nobility was frequently created for junior members of the French royal family. The Berry region now consists of the départements of Cher, Indre, the capital of Berry is Bourges. House of Bourbon Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

Duke of Berry
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Arms of the dukes of Berry (after 1376).

65.
Bernard, Count of Poitiers
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Bernard II was the count of Poitou from 840 until his death. He was probably a member of the Guilhemid family and his brothers were Turpio and Emenon, counts of Angoulême and Périgord, respectively. According to Ademar of Chabannes, writing 150 years after the events, Emenon was count of Poitou in 838 and he supported the succession of Pippins son, Pippin II, but the Emperor Louis the Pious instead bestowed the kingdom of Aquitaine on his own youngest son, Charles. Bernard was resident in Poitiers in 839, when the emperor led an army against it, forcing Emenon to flee to their brother Turpio at Angoulême and Bernard to flee to Renaud, Louis named Ranulf I as count of Poitou in Emenons place. Although Bernard fled to Renaud of Herbauges, this does not indicate that Bernard was in revolt, since Renaud was a supporter of Emperor Louis. In 840, Emenon submitted to the emperor and it is possible that Bernard did the same, Louis died on 20 June 840, and during the ensuing civil war between his sons, Pippin II seized control of Aquitaine. He besieged Poitiers, which resisted under its bishop, Ebroin and it is not clear if Bernard was appointed count by Pippin II in opposition to Ranulf, or if he was appointed by Charles to oppose Pippin. In any case, there is no evidence that during this time the city of Poitiers was administered by other than the bishop. During the civil war, Bernard joined Renaud of Herbauges in putting down the rebellion of Lambert, Renaud died in 843 and his son Hervé continued the fight against Lambert. Bernard was killed in combat in February 844, Bernards wife was Belihildis, known only from a bull of Pope John VIII excommunicating her son, Marquis Bernard of Gothia. The Historia inventionis et translationis reliquiarium Sancti Baudelli martyris records that her son had an uncle named Gauzlin who was an abbot before he was a bishop and this most likely refers to Gauzlin, abbot of Saint-Denis and then bishop of Paris. He was a son of Count Rorgon I of Maine and Bilichildis, besides Bernard of Gothia, Bernard and Belihildis had another son named Emenon. Bernard, count of Poitou, at the Fondation for Medieval Genealogy

Bernard, Count of Poitiers
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Coat of arms of the county of Poitiers.

66.
Emenon
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Emenon was the Count of Poitou, Périgord, and Angoulême. It is unknown who nominated him count of Poitou, but it was probably Pepin I of Aquitaine, during his tenure in Poitou, the Empress Judith was imprisoned in the abbey of Sainte-Croix at Poitiers for a while. The country of Herbauges was taken from him and given in benefice to Ragenold of Neustria, when Pepin died, Emenon joined the nobles who proclaimed Pepin II king. Louis invaded Aquitaine and took Poitiers, passing Christmas there in 839, Emenon became count of Périgord and Angoulême in 863. He died in battle with Landri, Count of Saintes, who was also killed and he married Sancha, daughter of Sancho II of Gascony, and left a son, Arnold, who became duke of Gascony. By a second wife, a daughter of Odo I, Count of Troyes, he left two sons, Adhemar, who inherited Poitou and Angoulême, and Adalelm, who later became Count of Troyes

Emenon
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Guerin

67.
Ranulf I of Aquitaine
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Ranulf I was a Count of Poitiers and Duke of Aquitaine. He is considered a son of Gerard, Count of Auvergne. Few details are known about Ranulf I, except that he died in 866 in Aquitaine from wounds received in the Battle of Brissarthe against the Vikings and he married Bilichild of Maine and they had the following, Ranulf II, who inherited Poitou and later acquired Aquitaine. Ramnulfids Dukes of Aquitaine family tree

Ranulf I of Aquitaine
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Guerin

68.
William III, Duke of Aquitaine
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William III, called Towhead from the colour of his hair, was the Count of the Duchy of Aquitaine from 959 and Duke of Aquitaine from 962 to his death. He was also the Count of Poitou from 935 and Count of Auvergne from 950, the primary sources for his reign are Ademar of Chabannes, Dudo of Saint-Quentin, and William of Jumièges. William was son of Ebalus Manzer and Emilienne and he claimed the Duchy of Aquitaine from his fathers death, but the royal chancery did not recognise his ducal title until the year before his own death. Shortly after the death of King Rudolph in 936, he was constrained to some land to Hugh the Great by Louis IV. He did it with grace, but his relationship with Hugh thenceforward deteriorated, in 950, Hugh was reconciled with Louis and granted the duchies of Burgundy and Aquitaine. He tried to conquer Aquitaine with Louiss assistance, but William defeated them, Lothair, Louiss successor, feared the power of William. In August 955 he joined Hugh to besiege Poitiers, which resisted successfully, William, however, gave battle and was routed. After the death of Hugh, his son Hugh Capet was named duke of Aquitaine and he was given the abbey of Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand, which remained in his house after his death. He also built a library in the palace of Poitiers and his father was duke Ebles Manzer, who already was a man in his middle years when he was born in about 913. According to the chronicle of Ademar de Chabannes, Williams mother was Geirlaug, William III married a lady named Adèle, perhaps about 936, in a match that may have been arranged by William I of Normandy. With Adèle, he had at least one child whose filiation is clearly attested, William and he abdicated to the abbey of Saint-Cyprien in Poitiers and left the government to his son

William III, Duke of Aquitaine
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Guerin

69.
William VI, Duke of Aquitaine
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William VI, called the Fat, was Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitou between 1030 and his death. He was the eldest son of William V the Great by his first wife, throughout his reign, he had to face the hostility of his stepmother, Agnes of Burgundy, the third wife of his father, who had remarried to Geoffrey Martel, then count of Vendôme. He entered into a war with Martel, who pretended to the government of the Saintonge, on 20 September 1034, he was captured in the field at Moncontour, near Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes. He was freed in 1036, after three years imprisonment, only by ceding the cities of Saintes and Bordeaux. He immediately reopened the war, but was defeated again and had to cede the isle of Oléron, William married Eustachie of Montreuil but had no known descendants. He reformed the administration of Poitiers by naming a provost and died there, being buried at Maillezais, dukes of Aquitaine family tree Nouvelle Biographie Générale. Bernard S. Bachrach, Fulk Nerra, the Neo-Roman Consul, 987-1040, University of California Press,1993

William VI, Duke of Aquitaine
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Guerin

70.
William X, Duke of Aquitaine
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William X, called the Saint, was Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, and Count of Poitou from 1126 to 1137. He was the son of William IX by his second wife, William was born in Toulouse during the brief period when his parents ruled the capital. His birth is recorded in the Chronicle of Saint-Maixent for the year 1099, Willelmo comiti natus est filius, later that same year, much to Philippas ire, Duke William IX mortgaged Toulouse to Philippas cousin, Bertrand of Toulouse, and then left on Crusade. Philippa and her infant son William X were left in Poitiers, when Duke William IX returned from his unsuccessful crusade, he took up with Dangerose, the wife of a vassal, and set aside his rightful wife, Philippa. This caused strain between father and son, until 1121 when William X married Aenor de Châtellerault, a daughter of his fathers mistress Dangerose by her first husband and he possibly had one natural son, William. William, called of Poitiers in the Pipe rolls may have been a brother of Eleanor. Chronicler John of Salisbury tells us that Petronilla died in 1151 or 1152, William administered his Aquitaine duchy as both a lover of the arts and a warrior. He became involved in conflicts with Normandy and for France, even inside his borders, William faced an alliance of the Lusignans and the Parthenays against him, an issue resolved with total destruction of the enemies. In international politics, William X initially supported antipope Anacletus II in the schism of 1130, opposite to Pope Innocent II. In 1134 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux convinced William to drop his support to Anacletus, in 1137 William joined the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, but died during the trip. On his deathbed, he expressed his wish to see king Louis VI of France as protector of his fifteen-year-old daughter Eleanor, Louis VI naturally accepted this guardianship and married the heiress of Aquitaine to his own son, Louis VII. Dukes of Aquitaine family tree Parsons, John Carmi, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Lord and Lady,2002 Bernard F. Reilly, The Contest of Christian and Muslim Spain, 1031-1157, Blackwell Publishing,1995. John of Salisburys Memoirs of the Papal Court translated from the Latin with introduction and notes by Marjorie Chibnall

William X, Duke of Aquitaine
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Saint Bernard of Clairvaux converts William of Aquitaine
William X, Duke of Aquitaine
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Coin of William X 0,890g.

71.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
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Eleanor of Aquitaine was a Queen consort of France and England. As a member of the Ramnulfids rulers in southwestern France, she was one of the most powerful and she inherited the Duchy of Aquitaine from her father, William X, in 1137, and by successive marriages became Queen of France and then of England. She was patron of literary figures such as Wace, Benoît de Sainte-Maure and she led armies several times in her life and was a leader of the Second Crusade. As Duchess of Aquitaine, Eleanor was the most eligible bride in Europe, three months after she became duchess, she married King Louis VII of France, son of her guardian, King Louis VI. As Queen of France, she participated in the unsuccessful Second Crusade, soon afterwards, Eleanor sought an annulment of her marriage, but her request was rejected by Pope Eugene III. However, after the birth of her second daughter Alix, Louis agreed to an annulment, the marriage was annulled on 11 March 1152 on the grounds of consanguinity within the fourth degree. Their daughters were declared legitimate and custody was awarded to Louis, as soon as the annulment was granted, Eleanor became engaged to the Duke of Normandy, who became King Henry II of England in 1154. Henry was her cousin and eleven years younger. The couple married on Whitsun,18 May 1152, eight weeks after the annulment of Eleanors first marriage, in a cathedral in Poitiers, over the next thirteen years, she bore Henry eight children, five sons, three of whom would become kings, and three daughters. However, Henry and Eleanor eventually became estranged, Henry imprisoned her in 1173 for supporting their son Henrys revolt against him. She was not released until 6 July 1189, when Henry died and their son, Richard the Lionheart. Now Queen dowager, Eleanor acted as regent while Richard went on the Third Crusade, on his return Richard was captured, Eleanor lived well into the reign of her youngest son, John. She outlived all her children except for John and Eleanor, on the other hand, some chronicles mention a fidelity oath of some lords of Aquitaine on the occasion of Eleanors fourteenth birthday in 1136. This, and her age of 82 at her death. Her parents almost certainly married in 1121 and her birthplace may have been Poitiers, Bordeaux, or Nieul-sur-lAutise, where her mother and brother died when Eleanor was 6 or 8. It became Eléanor in the langues doïl of northern France and Eleanor in English, there was, however, another prominent Eleanor before her, Eleanor of Normandy, an aunt of William the Conqueror, who lived a century earlier than Eleanor of Aquitaine. In Paris as the Queen of France she was called Helienordis, by all accounts, Eleanors father ensured that she had the best possible education. Eleanor came to learn arithmetic, the constellations, and history and she also learned domestic skills such as household management and the needle arts of embroidery, needlepoint, sewing, spinning, and weaving

72.
Louis VII of France
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Louis VII was King of the Franks from 1137 until his death. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI of France, hence his nickname, immediately after the annulment of her marriage, Eleanor married Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou, to whom she conveyed Aquitaine. When Henry became King of England in 1154, as Henry II, Henrys efforts to preserve and expand on this patrimony for the Crown of England would mark the beginning of the long rivalry between France and England. Louis VIIs reign saw the founding of the University of Paris and he died in 1180 and was succeeded by his son Philip II. Louis was born in 1120 in Paris, the son of Louis VI of France. The early education of Prince Louis anticipated an ecclesiastical career, in October 1131, his father had him anointed and crowned by Pope Innocent II in Reims Cathedral. He spent much of his youth in Saint-Denis, where he built a friendship with the Abbot Suger, an advisor to his father who also served Louis well during his early years as king. Following the death of William X, Duke of Aquitaine, Louis VI moved quickly to have Prince Louis married to Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, heiress of the late duke, on 25 July 1137. In this way, Louis VI sought to add the large, on 1 August 1137, shortly after the marriage, Louis VI died, and Prince Louis became king of France, reigning as Louis VII. The pairing of the monkish Louis and the high-spirited Eleanor was doomed to failure, she once declared that she had thought to marry a king. Louis and Eleanor had two daughters, Marie and Alix, in the first part of his reign, Louis VII was vigorous and zealous in his prerogatives. His accession was marked by no other than uprisings by the burgesses of Orléans and Poitiers. He soon came into violent conflict with Pope Innocent II, however, the pope thus imposed an interdict upon the king. As a result, Champagne decided to side with the pope in the dispute over Bourges, the war lasted two years and ended with the occupation of Champagne by the royal army. Louis VII was personally involved in the assault and burning of the town of Vitry-le-François, more than a thousand people who had sought refuge in the church died in the flames. Overcome with guilt and humiliated by ecclesiastical reproach, Louis admitted defeat, removed his armies from Champagne and he accepted Pierre de la Chatre as archbishop of Bourges and shunned Raoul and Petronilla. Desiring to atone for his sins, he declared his intention of mounting a crusade on Christmas Day 1145 at Bourges, bernard of Clairvaux assured its popularity by his preaching at Vezelay on Easter 1146. In the meantime, Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou, completed his conquest of Normandy in 1144, in exchange for being recognised as Duke of Normandy by Louis, Geoffrey surrendered half of the Vexin — a region vital to Norman security — to Louis

73.
Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor
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Otto IV was one of two rival kings of Germany from 1198 on, sole king from 1208 on, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until he was forced to abdicate in 1215. The only German king of the Welf dynasty, he incurred the wrath of Pope Innocent III and was excommunicated in 1210, Otto was the third son of Henry the Lion, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, and Matilda of England. His exact birthplace is not given by any original source and he grew up in England in the care of his grandfather King Henry II. Otto was fluent in French as well as German and he became the foster son of his maternal uncle, Richard I of England. In 1190, after he left England to join the Third Crusade, the authenticity of this grant was doubted by the vassals of Yorkshire, who prevented Otto taking possession of his earldom. Still, he probably visited Yorkshire in 1191, and he continued to claim the revenues of the earldom after becoming king of Germany, neither did he succeed in getting the 25,000 silver marks willed to him by his uncle in 1199. In 1195, Richard began negotiations to marry Otto to Margaret, daughter, lothian, as Margarets dowry, would be handed over to Richard for safekeeping and the counties of Northumberland and Cumberland would be granted to Otto and turned over to the king of Scotland. The negotiations dragged on until August 1198, when the birth of a son to William rendered them unnecessary. Having failed in his efforts to secure Otto an English earldom or else a Scottish kingdom, in September 1196 Richard, as duke of Aquitaine, there is some disagreement over whether Otto received Poitou in exchange for or in addition to the earldom of York. Otto was in Poitou from September 1196 until mid-1197, when he joined Richard in Normandy to confer over the appointment of bishops to the vacant sees of Poitiers, Limoges and he then participated in the war against Philip II of France on the side of Richard. In October he returned to Poitou, the German historian Jens Ahlers, taking into account Ottos life prior to 1198, considers that he might have been the first foreign king of Germany. Those princes opposed to the Staufen dynasty also decided, on the initiative of Richard of England, Ottos elder brother, Henry, was on a crusade at the time, and so the choice fell to Otto. Otto, soon recognized throughout the northwest and the lower Rhine region, was elected king by his partisans in Cologne on June 9,1198. Otto took control of Aachen, the place of coronation, and was crowned by Adolf, Archbishop of Cologne and this was of great symbolic importance, since the Archbishop of Cologne alone could crown the King of the Romans. Nevertheless, the coronation was done with fake regalia, because the materials were in the hands of the Staufen. Ottos election pulled the empire into the conflict between England and France, Philip had allied himself with the French king, Philip II, while Otto was supported at first by Richard I, and after his death in 1199 by his brother John. The papacy meanwhile, under Innocent III, determined to prevent the unification of Sicily. Therefore, Innocent III favoured Otto, whose family had always opposed to the house of Hohenstaufen

74.
John, Duke of Touraine
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John, Dauphin of France and Duke of Touraine was the fourth son and ninth child of Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria. After his three brothers died, he became Dauphin in 1415. In 1406 he married Jacqueline, heiress of the County of Hainaut, Holland, Zealand, after his marriage to Jacqueline, he was brought up at the castle of Le Quesnoy in Hainaut, at the court of his mother-in-law, Margaret of Burgundy. After the death of his elder brother Louis in December 1415 and he died on 5 April 1417 at the age of eighteen. What exactly caused his death is disputed, according to some, he died of the consequences of an abscess to the head, while other sources suggest he had been poisoned. He was buried in Compiègnes Saint-Corneille abbey and his younger brother Charles became dauphin and eventually king

John, Duke of Touraine
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John of Touraine

75.
French monarchs family tree (simple)
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This is a simplified family tree of all Frankish and French monarchs, from Chlodio to Napoleon III. Unionists recognized the Orléanist claimant after 1883, Orléanist claimants to the throne of France—descendants of Louis-Phillippe, a cadet Bourbon, rejecting all heads of state since 1848. Bonapartist claimants to the throne of France—descendants of Napoleon I and his brothers, rejecting all heads of state 1815–48, jacobite claimants to the throne of France—descendants of King Edward III of England and thus his claim to the French throne, also claiming Scotland, and Ireland. French monarchs family tree Kingdom of France List of French consorts List of French monarchs List of heirs to the French throne Edward James, The Origins of France, Clovis to the Capetians 500-1000. This work was commissioned at a time that France was embroiled in the Hundred Years War with England and it must therefore be read with a careful eye toward biases meant to justify the Capetian claims of continuity and inheritance. The Cambridge Illustrated History of France, paul Fouracre and Richard A. Gerberding, Late Merovingian France, History and Hagiography, 640–720. Patrick Geary, Before France and Germany, The Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World, patrick Geary, The Myth of Nations, The Medieval Origins of Europe

76.
Merovingian dynasty
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The Merovingians were a Salian Frankish dynasty that ruled the Franks for nearly 300 years in a region known as Francia in Latin, beginning in the middle of the 5th century. Their territory largely corresponded to ancient Gaul as well as the Roman provinces of Raetia, Germania Superior and the southern part of Germania. The Merovingian dynasty was founded by Childeric I, the son of Merovech, leader of the Salian Franks, after the death of Clovis there were frequent clashes between different branches of the family, but when threatened by its neighbours the Merovingians presented a strong united front. During the final century of Merovingian rule, the kings were increasingly pushed into a ceremonial role, the Merovingian rule ended in March 752 when Pope Zachary formally deposed Childeric III. Zacharys successor, Pope Stephen II, confirmed and anointed Pepin the Short in 754, the Merovingian ruling family were sometimes referred to as the long-haired kings by contemporaries, as their long hair distinguished them among the Franks, who commonly cut their hair short. The Merovingian dynasty owes its name to the semi-legendary Merovech, leader of the Salian Franks, the victories of his son Childeric I against the Visigoths, Saxons, and Alemanni established the basis of Merovingian land. Childerics son Clovis I went on to unite most of Gaul north of the Loire under his control around 486, when he defeated Syagrius, the Roman ruler in those parts. He won the Battle of Tolbiac against the Alemanni in 496, at time, according to Gregory of Tours. He subsequently went on to defeat the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse in the Battle of Vouillé in 507. After Cloviss death, his kingdom was partitioned among his four sons, leadership among the early Merovingians was probably based on mythical descent and alleged divine patronage, expressed in terms of continued military success. In 1906 the British Egyptologist Flinders Petrie suggested that the Marvingi recorded by Ptolemy as living near the Rhine were the ancestors of the Merovingian dynasty, upon Cloviss death in 511, the Merovingian kingdom included all of Gaul except Burgundy and all of Germania magna except Saxony. To the outside, the kingdom, even when divided under different kings, maintained unity, after the fall of the Ostrogoths, the Franks also conquered Provence. After this their borders with Italy and Visigothic Septimania remained fairly stable, internally, the kingdom was divided among Cloviss sons and later among his grandsons and frequently saw war between the different kings, who quickly allied among themselves and against one another. The death of one king created conflict between the brothers and the deceaseds sons, with differing outcomes. Later, conflicts were intensified by the personal feud around Brunhilda, however, yearly warfare often did not constitute general devastation but took on an almost ritual character, with established rules and norms. Eventually, Clotaire II in 613 reunited the entire Frankish realm under one ruler, later divisions produced the stable units of Austrasia, Neustria, Burgundy and Aquitania. The frequent wars had weakened royal power, while the aristocracy had made great gains and these concessions saw the very considerable power of the king parcelled out and retained by leading comites and duces. Very little is in fact known about the course of the 7th century due to a scarcity of sources, clotaires son Dagobert I, who sent troops to Spain and pagan Slavic territories in the east, is commonly seen as the last powerful Merovingian King

77.
Clovis I
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He is considered to have been the founder of the Merovingian dynasty, which ruled the Frankish kingdom for the next two centuries. Clovis was the son of Childeric I, a Merovingian king of the Salian Franks, and Basina, in 481, at the age of fifteen, Clovis succeeded his father. Clovis is important in the historiography of France as the first king of what would become France and his name is Germanic, composed of the elements hlod and wig, and is the origin of the later French given name Louis, borne by 18 kings of France. Dutch, the most closely related language to Frankish, reborrowed the name as Lodewijk from German in the 12th century. Clovis was baptized on Christmas Day in 508, numerous small Frankish kingdoms existed during the 5th century. After the collapse of Roman power in the last days of 406 the Salian Franks had expanded to the south of the military highway Boulogne-Cologne. The powerbase of Clovis father was the area around Tournai, in the current province of Hainault, upon the death of his father, Merovech in 457 Childeric I, Clovis father, became king of the subgroup of the Salian Franks based around Tournai. In 463 he fought in conjunction with Aegidius, the magister militum of northern Gaul, Childeric died in 481 and was buried in Tournai, Clovis succeeded him as king, aged just 15. Under Clovis, the Salian Franks came to dominate their neighbours, historians believe that Childeric and Clovis were both commanders of the Roman military in the Province of Belgica Secunda and were subordinate to the magister militum. Clovis then had the Frankish king Chararic imprisoned and executed, a few years later, he killed Ragnachar, the Frankish king of Cambrai, along with his brothers. Another victory followed in 491 over a group of Thuringians to the east. By this time Clovis had conquered all the Frankish kingdoms to the west of the River Maas and he secured an alliance with the Ostrogoths through the marriage of his sister Audofleda to their king, Theodoric the Great. With the help of the Ripuarian Franks he narrowly defeated the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac in 496 and he made Paris his capital and established an abbey dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul on the south bank of the Seine. In 500 Clovis fought a battle with the Burgundian kingdom at Dijon but was unable to subdue them, the battle added most of Aquitaine to Clovis kingdom and resulted in the death of the Visigothic king Alaric II. According to Gregory of Tours, following the Battle of Vouillé, since Clovis name does not appear in the consular lists, it is likely he was granted a suffect consulship. Clovis became the first king of all Franks in 508, after he had conquered Cologne and this contrasted with Catholicism, whose followers believe that God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are three persons of one being. By the time of the ascension of Clovis, Gothic Arians dominated Christian Gaul and this included his wife, Clotilde, a Burgundian princess who was a Catholic in spite of the Arianism that surrounded her at court. Clotilde evangelized Clovis to convert to Catholicism, which he initially resisted, Clotilde had wanted her son to be baptized, but Clovis refused to allow it, so Clotilde had the child baptized without Cloviss knowledge

78.
Childebert I
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Childebert I was a Frankish King of the Merovingian dynasty, as third of the four sons of Clovis I who shared the kingdom of the Franks upon their fathers death in 511. He was one of the sons of Saint Clotilda, born at Reims and he reigned as King of Paris from 511 to 558 and Orléans from 524 to 558. In the partition of the realm, he received as his share the town of Paris, the country to the north as far as the river Somme, to the west as far as the English Channel, and the Armorican peninsula. His brothers ruled in different lands, Theuderic I in Metz, Chlodomer in Orléans, in 523, Childebert participated with his brothers in a war against Godomar of Burgundy. Chlodomer died in the Battle of Vézeronce, thereafter, concerned that the three sons of Chlodomer would inherit the kingdom of Orléans, Clothar conspired with Childebert to oust them. They sent a representative to their mother Clotilde, who as the mother had authority as the head of the family line. She famously replied, It is better for me to see them dead rather than shorn, after the murder of Chlodomers two elder children—the third, Clodoald, escaping to a monastic life—Childebert annexed the cities of Chartres and Orléans. He took part in various expeditions against the kingdom of Burgundy. When Witiges, the king of the Ostrogoths, ceded Provence to the Franks in 535, the annexation of that province was completed, with Clotaires help, in the winter of 536–537. In 531, he received pleas from his sister Chrotilda, wife of King Amalaric of the Visigoths, the Arian king of Hispania, Chrotilda claimed, was grossly mistreating her, a Catholic. Childebert went down with an army and defeated the Gothic king, Amalaric retreated to Barcelona, where he was assassinated. Chrotilda died on her journey to Paris of unknown causes. Childebert made other expeditions against the Visigoths, in 542, he took possession of Pamplona with the help of his brother Clotaire and besieged Zaragoza, but was forced to retreat. He died on 13 December 558, and was buried in the abbey he had founded, st-Germain-des-Prés became the royal necropolis for the Neustrian kings until 675. He left no sons, only two daughters, Chrodoberge and Chrodesinde, by his wife Ultragotha and he expanded his domains in more foreign wars than any of his brothers, fighting in Burgundy, Spain, Provence, and elsewhere in Gaul. Gregory of Tours, a contemporary Neustrian, cites Childebert as saying, Velim unquam Arvernam Lemanem quae tantae jocunditatis gratia refulgere dicitur, oculis cernere. Childbert was also one of the religious of the sons of Clovis, cooperating with his brothers, rescuing his sister

79.
Chlothar I
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Chlothar I, also called Clotaire I and the Old, King of the Franks, was one of the four sons of Clovis I of the Merovingian dynasty. Although his father, Childeric I, had united Francia for the first time, in 511 at the age of circa 14, Clothar I inherited two large territories on the Western coast of Francia, separated by the lands of his brother Charibert Is Kingdom of Paris. Chlothar spent most of his life in a campaign to expand his territories at the expense of his relatives. His brothers avoided outright war by cooperating with his attacks on neighbouring lands in concert or by invading lands when their rulers died, the spoils were shared between the participating brothers. By the end of his life, Chlothar had managed to reunite Francia by surviving his brothers, but upon his own death, the Kingdom of the Franks was once again divided between his own four surviving sons. A fifth son had rebelled and was killed, along with his family, Frankish customs of the day allowed for the practice polygamy, especially among royalty. So it was not uncommon for a king to have multiple wives and this was a major deviation from the monogamy of late Roman customs, influenced by the Church. Frankish rulers followed this practice mainly to increase their influence across larger areas of land in the wake of the Roman empires collapse, the aim was to maintain peace and ensure the preservation of the kingdom by appeasing local leaders. In the Germanic tradition succession fell, not to sons, but to younger brothers, uncles, but under Salic law, Clovis I instituted the custom of sons being the primary heirs in all respects. However, it was not a system of primogeniture, with the eldest son receiving the vast majority of an inheritance, therefore, the greater Frankish Kingdom was often splintered into smaller sub-kingdoms. Chlothar was the son of Clovis I and the fourth son of Queen Clotilde. Chlothar was born around 497 in Soissons, but he was very ambitious and sought to extend his domain. Upon the death of Clovis I in the year 511, the Frankish kingdom was divided between Chlothar and his brothers, Theuderic, Childebert, and Chlodomer, because of the rights of mothers, queens were granted a portion of their sons kingdom. Clovis I, who had two wives, divided his kingdom into two for each of his wives, then parceled out pieces to his respective sons. The eldest, Theuderic, son of the first wife, had the benefit of receiving one half of the kingdom of Francia, Chlothar shared the second half of the kingdom with his brothers Childebert and Chlodomer. Chlothar received the northern portion, Childebert the central kingdom of Paris, in 516 Gundobad, king of Burgundy, died, and the throne passed to his son Sigismund, who converted to Catholicism. Sigismund adopted an extreme anti-Arian policy, going so far as to execute his Arian son Sigeric, in 523, at the instigation of their mother, Clotilde, Chlothar, Childebert, and Chlodomer joined forces in an expedition against the Burgundians. The Burgundian army was defeated, and Sigismund was captured and executed, sigismunds brother Godomar replaced him on the throne, with the support of the aristocracy, and the Franks were forced to leave

Chlothar I
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The division of Gaul upon Chlothar's death (561)
Chlothar I
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A denarius from the reign of Chlothar I
Chlothar I
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Bust of Chlothar
Chlothar I
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Imagined Bust of Chlothar on coin minted by Louis XVIII

80.
Guntram
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St. Guntram, also called Gontram, Gontran, Gunthram, Gunthchramn, and Guntramnus, was the King of Burgundy from AD561 to AD592. He was the third eldest and second eldest surviving son of Chlothar I, on his fathers death in 561, he became king of a fourth of the Kingdom of the Franks, and made his capital at Orléans. The name Guntram denotes war raven, later he married Marcatrude, daughter of Magnar, and sent his son Gundobad to Orléans. But after she had a son Marcatrude was jealous, and proceeded to bring about Gundobads death and she sent poison, they say, and poisoned his drink. And upon his death, by Gods judgment she lost the son she had and incurred the hate of the king, was dismissed by him, after her he took Austerchild, also named Bobilla. He had by her two sons, of whom the older was called Clothar and the younger Chlodomer, Guntram had a period of intemperance. He was eventually overcome with remorse for the sins of his past life, in atonement, he fasted, prayed, wept, and offered himself to God. Throughout the balance of his prosperous reign he attempted to govern by Christian principles, according to St. Gregory of Tours, he was the protector of the oppressed, caregiver to the sick, and the tender parent to his subjects. He was generous with his wealth, especially in times of plague and he strictly and justly enforced the law without respect to person, yet was ever ready to forgive offences against himself, including two attempted assassinations. Guntram munificently built and endowed many churches and monasteries, St. Gregory related that the king performed many miracles both before and after his death, some of which St. Gregory claimed to have witnessed himself. In 567, his elder brother Charibert I died and his lands of the Kingdom of Paris were divided between the brothers, Guntram, Sigebert I, and Chilperic I. They shared his realm, agreeing at first to hold Paris in common, chariberts widow, Theudechild, proposed a marriage with Guntram, the eldest remaining brother, though a council convened at Paris as late as 557 had forbidden such tradition as incestuous. Guntram decided to house her more safely, though unwillingly, in a monastery in Arles, in 573, Guntram was caught in a civil war with his brother Sigebert I of Austrasia, and in 575 summoned the aid of their brother Chilperic I of Soissons. He reversed his allegiance later, due to the character of Chilperic, if we may give him the benefit of the doubt in light of St. Gregorys commendation and he thereafter remained an ally of Sigebert, his wife, and his sons until his death. Mummolus defeated Chilperics general Desiderius and the Neustrians forces retreated from Austrasia. In 577, Chlothar and Clodomir, his two surviving children, died of dysentery and he adopted as his son and heir Childebert II, his nephew, Sigeberts son, however, Childebert did not always prove faithful to his uncle. In 581, Chilperic took many of Guntrams cities and in 583, he allied with Childebert and this time Guntram made peace with Chilperic and Childebert retreated. Supposed to take place on 4 July, the feast of St. Martin of Tours, in Orléans, it did not, Guntram marched against him, calling him nothing more than a millers son named Ballomer

81.
Chilperic I
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Chilperic I was the king of Neustria from 561 to his death. He was one of the sons of the Frankish king Clotaire I, immediately after the death of his father in 561, he endeavoured to take possession of the whole kingdom, seized the treasure amassed in the royal town of Berny and entered Paris. His brothers, however, compelled him to divide the kingdom with them, and Soissons, together with Amiens, Arras, Cambrai, Thérouanne, Tournai, and Boulogne fell to Chilperics share. His eldest brother Charibert received Paris, the second eldest brother Guntram received Burgundy with its capital at Orléans, on the death of Charibert in 567, his estates were augmented when the brothers divided Chariberts kingdom among themselves and agreed to share Paris. Not long after his accession, however, he was at war with Sigebert, Sigebert defeated him and marched to Soissons, where he defeated and imprisoned Chilperics eldest son, Theudebert. The war flared in 567, at the death of Charibert, Chilperic immediately invaded Sigeberts new lands, but Sigebert defeated him. Chilperic later allied with Guntram against Sigebert, but Guntram changed sides, when Sigebert married Brunhilda, daughter of the Visigothic sovereign in Spain, Chilperic also wished to make a brilliant marriage. He had already repudiated his first wife, Audovera, and had taken as his concubine a serving-woman called Fredegund and he accordingly dismissed Fredegund, and married Brunhildas sister, Galswintha. But he soon tired of his new partner, and one morning Galswintha was found strangled in her bed, a few days afterwards Chilperic married Fredegund. This murder was the cause of more long and bloody wars, interspersed with truces, in 575, Sigebert was assassinated by Fredegund at the very moment when he had Chilperic at his mercy. Chilperic then made war with the protector of Sigeberts wife and son, Chilperic retrieved his position, took from Austrasia Tours and Poitiers and some places in Aquitaine, and fostered discord in the kingdom of the east during the minority of Childebert II. In 578, Chilperic sent an army to fight the Breton ruler Waroch II of the Bro-Wened along the Vilaine, the Frankish army consisted of units from the Poitou, Touraine, Anjou, Maine, and Bayeux. The Baiocassenses were Saxons and they in particular were routed by the Bretons, the armies fought for three days before Waroch submitted, did homage for Vannes, sent his son as a hostage, and agreed to pay an annual tribute. He subsequently broke his oath but Chilperics dominion over the Bretons was relatively secure, most of what is known of Chilperic comes from The History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours. Gregory also objected to Chilperics attempts to teach a new doctrine of the Trinity, Chilperics reign in Neustria saw the introduction of the Byzantine punishment of eye-gouging. In September 584, while returning from an expedition to his royal villa of Chelles. Chilperic Is first marriage was to Audovera, merovech, married the widow Brunhilda and became his fathers enemy Clovis. Basina, nun, led a revolt in the abbey of Poitiers Childesinda His short second marriage to Galswintha produced no children and his concubinage and subsequent marriage to Fredegund in about 568 produced six more legitimate offspring, Rigunth, betrothed to Reccared but never married

Chilperic I
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Portrait of Chilperic I on a bronze medal 1720.
Chilperic I
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Chilperic I and Fredegund
Chilperic I
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Childeric I (457–481)
Chilperic I

82.
Sigebert I
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Sigebert I was the Germanic king of Austrasia from the death of his father in 561 to his own death. He was the surviving son out of four of Clotaire I. His reign found him mostly occupied with a civil war against his half-brother. Incursions by the Avars, a nomadic tribe related to the Huns. He repelled their attacks twice, in 562 and c, about 567, he married Brunhilda, daughter of the Visigothic king Athanagild. She was a maiden beautiful in her person, lovely to look at, virtuous and well-behaved, with good sense and her father did not refuse, but sent her to the king I have named with great treasures. And the king collected his men, made ready a feast. And she still remains catholic in Christs name, upon seeing this, his brother Chilperic sent to Athanagild for his other daughters hand. This daughter, Galswintha, was given him and he abandoned his other wives, however, he soon tired of her and had her murdered in order to marry his mistress Fredegund. Probably spurred by his wife Brunhildas anger at her sisters murder, the two brothers had already been at war, but their hostility now elevated into a long and bitter war that was continued by the descendants of both. In 573, Sigebert took possession of Poitiers and Touraine, but at Sigeberts moment of triumph, when he had just been declared king by Chilperics subjects at Vitry-en-Artois, he was struck down by two assassins working for Fredegund. He was succeeded by his son Childebert under the regency of Brunhilda, Brunhilda and Childebert quickly put themselves under the protection of Guntram, who eventually adopted Childebert as his own son and heir. With Brunhilda he had two daughters, Ingund and Chlodosind, history of the Franks, Books I-X at Medieval Sourcebook

83.
Dagobert III
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Dagobert III was Merovingian king of the Franks. He was a son of Childebert III and he succeeded his father as the head of the three Frankish kingdoms—Neustria and Austrasia, unified since Pippins victory at Tertry in 687, and the Kingdom of Burgundy—in 711, at the age of twelve. Real power, however, still remained with the Mayor of the Palace, Pippin of Herstal, Pippins death occasioned open conflict between his heirs and the Neustrian nobles who elected the mayors of the palace. As for Dagobert himself, the Liber Historiae Francorum reports he died of illness, but otherwise says nothing about his character or actions

84.
Chlothar IV
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Chlothar IV, king of Austrasia, was installed by the mayor of the palace, Charles Martel, as an ally during the civil war then raging. In 717, Charles, returning to Neustria with an army to assault King Chilperic II and his mayor, Ragenfrid, confirmed his supremacy with a victory at Vincy, near Cambrai. He chased the king and mayor to Paris before turning back to remove his other opponent, Plectrude. On succeeding there, he proclaimed Chlothar king of Austrasia in opposition to Chilperic, in 718, Chilperic was again defeated, at Soissons, by Charles. The king fled with his ally Odo the Great, duke of Aquitaine, soon Odo gave up on Chilperic and sued for peace. Charles now recognized Chilperic as king of all the Franks, and in exchange Chilperic surrendered his power to Charles. Chlothar is thought to have died in 718, when Chilperic was raised on the shield in 719, Charles may have been willing to recognize him as king as a result of Chlothars death. It is possible, however, that Chlothar survived until 719,720 or even 721 and it is also possible that Chlothar was a son of Childebert III or not a Merovingian at all, but merely a puppet or place-man who served Charles Martels political purposes at the time

85.
Childeric III
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Childeric III was King of Francia from 743 until he was deposed by Pope Zachary in March 751 at the instigation of Pepin the Short. Although his parentage is uncertain, he is considered the last Frankish king from the Merovingian dynasty, once Childeric was deposed, Pepin the Short, who was the father of emperor Charlemagne, was crowned the first king of the Franks from the Carolingian dynasty. In 718, Charles Martel combined the roles of mayor of the palace of Neustria and mayor of the palace of Austrasia, after the death of king Theuderic IV in 737, the throne remained vacant, and Charles Martel became de facto king. After Charles Martels death in 741, Carloman and Pepin the Short, his sons by his first wife Rotrude, however, they soon faced revolts from their younger half-brother Grifo and their brother-in-law Odilo, Duke of Bavaria. These revolts may have played a part in their decision to fill the throne with a Merovingian king after a vacancy to add legitimacy to their reigns. Childerics parentage and his relation to the Merovingian family are uncertain and he may have been either the son of Chilperic II or Theuderic IV. Childeric took no part in business, which was directed, as previously. Once a year, he would be brought in an ox cart led by a peasant and preside at court, after Carloman retired to a monastery in 747, Pepin resolved to take the royal crown for himself. Pepin sent letters to Pope Zachary, asking whether the title of king belonged to the one who had exercised the power or the one with the royal lineage, the pope responded that the real power should have the royal title as well. In early March 751 Childeric was dethroned by Pope Zachary and tonsured and his long hair was the symbol of his dynasty and thus the royal rights or magical powers, by cutting it, they divested him of all royal prerogatives. Once dethroned, he and his son Theuderic were placed in the monastery of Saint-Bertin or he in Saint-Omer, there are conflicts in information of when he exactly died with some references citing as early as 753 and other references saying it was as late as 758. Under the Carolingians, he received bad press, being called a rex falsus, false king, despite the fact that it was Pepin through Popes Zachary, junghans, W. Die Geschichte der fränkischen Konige Childerich und Clodovech. Chiflet, J. J. Anastasis Childerici I Francorum regis, le Tombeau de Childeric I, roi des Francs. Lavisse, E. Histoire de France, Vol. II, the Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar with its Continuations

86.
Carolingian dynasty
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The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name Carolingian derives from the Latinised name of Charles Martel, the Carolingian dynasty reached its peak in 800 with the crowning of Charlemagne as the first Emperor of Romans in over three centuries. His death in 814 began a period of fragmentation of the Carolingian empire and decline that would eventually lead to the evolution of the Kingdom of France. This picture, however, is not commonly accepted today, the greatest Carolingian monarch was Charlemagne, who was crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III at Rome in 800. His empire, ostensibly a continuation of the Western Roman Empire, is referred to historiographically as the Carolingian Empire, the Carolingian rulers did not give up the traditional Frankish practice of dividing inheritances among heirs, though the concept of the indivisibility of the Empire was also accepted. The Carolingians had the practice of making their sons kings in the various regions of the Empire. The Carolingians were displaced in most of the regna of the Empire by 888 and they ruled in East Francia until 911 and held the throne of West Francia intermittently until 987. One chronicler of Sens dates the end of Carolingian rule with the coronation of Robert II of France as junior co-ruler with his father, Hugh Capet, the dynasty became extinct in the male line with the death of Eudes, Count of Vermandois. His sister Adelaide, the last Carolingian, died in 1122, the Carolingian dynasty has five distinct branches, The Lombard branch, or Vermandois branch, or Herbertians, descended from Pepin of Italy, son of Charlemagne. Though he did not outlive his father, his son Bernard was allowed to retain Italy, Bernard rebelled against his uncle Louis the Pious, and lost both his kingdom and his life. Deprived of the title, the members of this branch settled in France. The counts of Vermandois perpetuated the Carolingian line until the 12th century, the Counts of Chiny and the lords of Mellier, Neufchâteau and Falkenstein are branches of the Herbertians. With the descendants of the counts of Chiny, there would have been Herbertian Carolingians to the early 14th century, the Lotharingian branch, descended from Emperor Lothair, eldest son of Louis the Pious. At his death Middle Francia was divided equally between his three surviving sons, into Italy, Lotharingia and Lower Burgundy, the sons of Emperor Lothair did not have sons of their own, so Middle Francia was divided between the western and eastern branches of the family in 875. The Aquitainian branch, descended from Pepin of Aquitaine, son of Louis the Pious, since he did not outlive his father, his sons were deprived of Aquitaine in favor of his younger brother Charles the Bald. The German branch, descended from Louis the German, King of East Francia, since he had three sons, his lands were divided into Duchy of Bavaria, Duchy of Saxony and Duchy of Swabia. His youngest son Charles the Fat briefly reunited both East and West Francia — the entirety of the Carolingian empire — but it again after his death. With the failure of the lines of the German branch, Arnulf of Carinthia

87.
Charles the Bald
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Charles the Bald was the King of West Francia, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor. After a series of wars during the reign of his father, Louis the Pious. He was a grandson of Charlemagne and the youngest son of Louis the Pious by his second wife and he was born on 13 June 823 in Frankfurt, when his elder brothers were already adults and had been assigned their own regna, or subkingdoms, by their father. The attempts made by Louis the Pious to assign Charles a subkingdom, first Alemannia, at a diet in Aachen in 837, Louis the Pious bade the nobles do homage to Charles as his heir. Pepin of Aquitaine died in 838, whereupon Charles at last received that kingdom, which angered Pepins heirs, the death of the emperor in 840 led to the outbreak of war between his sons. In the following year, the two confirmed their alliance by the celebrated Oaths of Strasbourg. The war was brought to an end by the Treaty of Verdun in August 843, Louis received the eastern part of the Carolingian Empire, known then as East Francia and later as Germany. Lothair retained the title and the Kingdom of Italy. He also received the regions from Flanders through the Rhineland. The first years of Charless reign, up to the death of Lothair I in 855, were comparatively peaceful, during these years the three brothers continued the system of confraternal government, meeting repeatedly with one another, at Koblenz, at Meerssen, and at Attigny. In 858, Louis the German, invited by disaffected nobles eager to oust Charles, Charles was so unpopular that he was unable to summon an army, and he fled to Burgundy. He was saved only by the support of the bishops, who refused to crown Louis the German king, and by the fidelity of the Welfs, in 860, he in his turn tried to seize the kingdom of his nephew, Charles of Provence, but was repulsed. On the death of his nephew Lothair II in 869, Charles tried to seize Lothairs dominions, besides these family disputes, Charles had to struggle against repeated rebellions in Aquitaine and against the Bretons. Led by their chiefs Nomenoë and Erispoë, who defeated the king at the Battle of Ballon and the Battle of Jengland, the Bretons were successful in obtaining a de facto independence. Charles also fought against the Vikings, who devastated the country of the north, the valleys of the Seine and Loire, at the Vikings successful siege and sack of Paris in 845 and several times thereafter Charles was forced to purchase their retreat at a heavy price. By the same edict, he ordered fortified bridges to be put up at all rivers to block the Viking incursions, two of these bridges at Paris saved the city during its siege of 885–886. In 875, after the death of the Emperor Louis II, Charles the Bald, supported by Pope John VIII, traveled to Italy, receiving the crown at Pavia. Louis the German, also a candidate for the succession of Louis II, revenged himself by invading and devastating Charles dominions, and Charles had to return hastily to West Francia

Charles the Bald
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Charles the Bald in old age; picture from his Psalter
Charles the Bald
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Denier of Charles the Bald struck at Paris
Charles the Bald
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Denier (type Temple and cross) of Charles the Bald, minted at Reims between 840-864 (pre- Edict of Pistres).
Charles the Bald
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Seal of Charles the Bald

88.
Louis the Stammerer
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Louis the Stammerer was the King of Aquitaine and later the King of West Francia. He was the eldest son of emperor Charles the Bald and Ermentrude of Orléans, Louis the Stammerer was physically weak and outlived his father by only two years. He succeeded his younger brother Charles the Child as the ruler of Aquitaine in 866 and his father in West Francia in 877, in the French monarchial system, he is considered Louis II. The pope may have offered him the imperial crown. Louis had relatively little impact on politics and he was described a simple and sweet man, a lover of peace, justice, and religion. In 878, he gave the counties of Barcelona, Girona and his final act was to march against the invading Vikings, but he fell ill and died on 9 April or 10 April 879, not long after beginning this final campaign. On his death, his realms were divided between his two sons, Carloman II and Louis III of France, during the peace negotiations between his father and Erispoe, duke of Brittany, Louis was betrothed to an unnamed daughter of Erispoe in 856. It is not known if this was the daughter who later married Gurivant. The contract was broken in 857 after Erispoes murder and his first wife Ansgarde of Burgundy had two sons, Louis and Carloman, both of whom became kings of West Francia, and two daughters, Hildegarde and Gisela. His second wife Adelaide of Paris had one daughter, Ermentrude and a son, Charles the Simple. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh

89.
Carloman II
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Carloman II might refer to the second Carolingian of that name, otherwise known as Carloman I. Carloman II, King of West Francia, was the youngest son of King Louis the Stammerer and Ansgarde of Burgundy, initially some Frankish nobles advocated electing Louis III as the sole king, but eventually both brothers were elected kings. Meanwhile, the powerful Duke Boso of Provence had renounced his allegiance to both brothers and had been elected King of Provence, in the summer of 880 Carloman and Louis III marched against Boso, took Mâcon and the northern parts of his realm. Despite receiving help from their cousin Charles the Fat, who ruled East Francia, only in the summer of 882 Vienne was taken after being besieged by Richard, Count of Autun. After the accidental death of Louis III in August 882, Carloman II became the king of West Francia. The kingdom was in a condition partly owing to repeated incursions from the Viking raiders. Carloman II died while hunting on 12 December 884 and was succeeded in the throne by his cousin and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Carloman

90.
Charles the Simple
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Charles III, called the Simple or the Straightforward, was the King of West Francia from 898 until 922 and the King of Lotharingia from 911 until 919–23. He was a member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the third and posthumous son of king Louis the Stammerer by his second wife Adelaide of Paris. As a child, Charles was prevented from succeeding to the throne at the time of the death in 884 of his half-brother, instead, Frankish nobles of the realm asked his cousin, Emperor Charles the Fat to assume the crown. The nobility then elected Odo, the hero of the Siege of Paris as the new king, in 893 Charles was crowned by a faction opposed to the rule of Odo at the Reims Cathedral, becoming monarch of West Francia only after the death of Odo in 898. In 911 a group of Vikings led by Rollo besieged Paris, after a victory near Chartres on 26 August, Charles decided to negotiate with Rollo, resulting in the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte which created the Duchy of Normandy. Rollo also agreed to be baptised and to marry Charles daughter Gisela, Charles had tried to win Lotharingian support for years, for instance, by marrying in April 907 a Lotharingian woman named Frederuna, and in 909 his niece Cunigunda married Wigeric of Lotharingia. Charles defended Lotharingia against two attacks by Conrad I, in 925 Lotharingia was once again seized by East Francia. Queen Frederuna died on 10 February 917 leaving six daughters and no sons, on 7 October 919 Charles married Eadgifu, the daughter of Edward the Elder, King of England, who bore him a son, the future King Louis IV of France. By this time Charles excessive favouritism towards a certain Hagano had turned the aristocracy against him and he endowed Hagano with monasteries that were already the benefices of other barons, alienating them. In Lotharingia he earned the enmity of the new duke Gilbert, opposition to Charles in Lotharingia was not universal, however, he retained support of Wigeric. The nobles, completely exasperated with Charles policies and especially his favoritism of count Hagano, after negotiations by Archbishop Herveus of Reims the king was released. In 922 the Frankish nobles revolted again led by Robert of Neustria, Robert, who was Odos brother, was elected king by the rebels and crowned, while Charles had to flee to Lotharingia. On 2 July 922, Charles lost his most faithful supporter, Herveus of Reims, Charles returned with a Norman army in 923 but was defeated on 15 June near Soissons by Robert, who died in the battle. Charles was captured and imprisoned in a castle at Péronne under the guard of Herbert II of Vermandois, Roberts son-in-law Rudolph of Burgundy was then elected to succeed him as king. Charles died in prison on 7 October 929 and was buried at the abbey of Saint-Fursy. His son by Eadgifu would eventually be crowned in 936 as Louis IV of France, in the initial aftermath of Charless defeat, Queen Eadgifu and children had fled to England. On 6 December 884 King Carloman II of West Francia died without a heir and his half-brother. Because of this, their cousin Charles the Fat, already Holy Roman Emperor, since the beginning, the new monarch was forced to deal with constant Viking raids, with little success

Charles the Simple
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14th century depiction of the imprisonment of Charles III
Charles the Simple
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Denier of Charles III
Charles the Simple
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Carloman, son
Charles the Simple
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Pepin, son

91.
Rudolph of France
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Rudolph or Rudolf was the elected King of France from 923 until his death in 936. Prior to his election as king, he was Duke of Burgundy and he was the son of Richard, Duke of Burgundy and Adelaide of Auxerre inheriting the Duchy of Burgundy from his father. He married Emma of France, daughter of king Robert I of France and he is frequently confused with his uncle Rudolph I of Burgundy. Rudolph was elected king of West Francia in 923 by an assembly of Frankish nobles and he was crowned by Walter, Archbishop of Sens at St. Médard in Soissons on Sunday,13 July 923. On assuming the crown he passed the Duchy of Burgundy to his younger brother Hugh the Black, in contemporary Latin documents, his name is usually Rodulfus, from the Germanic roots hruod, glory, and wulf, wolf. Rodulf and Rudolf are variants of this name, the French form is Rodolphe, by contrast, the king is normally known as Raoul in modern French, a name which derives from Radulfus, from Germanic rad, counsel, and wulf. Although this name is of different origin, it was used interchangeably by contemporaries with Rodulfus. The king himself, however, always, used Rodulfus, as on his personal seal, nonetheless, he is sometimes called Ralph or Radulf in English. The deposed Charles the Simple was still alive and claimed the throne and this was solved when Rudolphs brother-in-law, Herbert II, Count of Vermandois, who was married to Emmas sister, tricked Charles, a fellow Carolingian, into meeting and then took him prisoner. Rudolphs first act was to lead an army against the king of East Francia Henry the Fowler, after trying to annex Lotharingia Henry met Rudolph with a considerably-sized army and made peace again. However, in 925 Henry attacked Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine and took over Lotharingia permanently, in 924 Vikings made a fresh series of raids into West Francia. From the Loire Valley they threatened Hugh the Great, brother of Queen Emma, soon they attacked Burgundy, domain of Rudolphs brother and were repulsed, moving on to Melun, where they threatened the royal lands. Joined only by his vassals and Herbert, he recruited troops in Burgundy. After Vikings left, the Normans, whom Charles the Simple had settled in Duchy of Normandy in 911, also in that year, Rudolph conversed with Louis the Blind, king of Provence, over the Magyars, the newest barbarian migrants to Europe, then menacing Louis. In 930 Magyars invaded the region around Rheims, but left before the king could engage them, in 935 Magyars invaded Burgundy and Rudolph brought a large army against them, causing their retreat without a battle. West Francia was temporarily safe from both Vikings and Magyars at Rudolphss death, the complaints from Rudolph led Herbert II to bring Charles before William Longsword, Count of Rouen, for homage and then to Rheims to press Charles claim on Pope John X. In 928 Herbert II finally got possession of Laon, but the next year Charles died at Péronne, in 929 Rudolph attempted to reduce the power of Ebalus, Duke of Aquitaine. He withdrew from him access to Berry, and in 932 granted the title of prince of Gothia to the count of Toulouse, Raymond Pons and he also transferred the title Count of Auvergne to Raymond

92.
Louis IV of France
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Louis IV, called dOutremer or Transmarinus, reigned as king of West Francia from 936 to 954. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, he was the son of king Charles the Simple and Eadgifu of Wessex. His reign is known thanks to the Annals of Flodoard. The only child of king Charles the Simple and his second wife Eadgifu of Wessex, from his fathers first marriage with Frederuna he had six half-sisters and was the only male heir to the throne. Young Louis was raised in the Anglo-Saxon court until his teens, during this time he enjoyed legendary stories about Edmund the Martyr, King of East Anglia, an ancestor of his maternal family who had heroically fought against the Vikings. Once he took the throne, Louis wanted to free himself from the tutelage of Hugh the Great, in 945, following the death of William I Longsword, Duke of Normandy, Louis tried to conquer his lands, but was kidnapped by the men of Hugh the Great. The Synod of Ingelheim in 948 allowed the excommunication of Hugh the Great, from 950 Louis gradually imposed his rule in the northeast of the kingdom, building many alliances and under the protection of the Ottonian kingdom of East Francia. In spring of 936 Hugh the Great sent an embassy to Wessex inviting Louis to come, after a few hours of sea journey, Louis received the homage of Hugh and some Frankish nobles on the beach of Boulogne, who kissed his hands. Chronicler Richerus gives us an anecdote about this first encounter, Then the Duke hastily brought a horse decorated with the royal insignia. By the time he wanted to put the King in the saddle, the horse ran in all directions, but Louis, a young man, jumped suddenly, without stirrups. This pleased all those presented and caused recognition from all, Louis and his court then began the trip to Laon where the coronation ceremony was to take place. The chronicler Flodoard records the events as follows, During the ritual, almost nothing is known about the coronation ceremony of Louis IV. It seems certain that the King would wear the crown and sceptre of his predecessor and he must have promised before the bishops of France to respect the privileges of the Church. Maybe he received the ring, the sword and the stick of Saint Remigius, historians have wondered why the powerful Hugh the Great called the young Carolingian prince to throne instead of taking it himself, as his father had done fifteen years earlier. First, he had rivals, especially Hugh, Duke of Burgundy and Herbert II. But above all, it seems that he was shocked by the death of his father. Richerus explains that Hugh the Great remembered his father who had died for his pretentions and it was then that the Gauls, anxious to appear free to elect their King, assembled under the leadership of Hugh to deliberate about the choice of a new King. According to Richerus, Hugh the Great delivered the following speech, if my father and us, we hurt your Majesty by some of our actions, we must use all our efforts to erase the trace

93.
Lothair of France
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Lothair, sometimes called Lothair III or Lothair IV, was the Carolingian king of West Francia from 10 September 954 until his death in 986. Lothair was born in Laon near the end of 941, as the eldest son of king Louis IV and Gerberga of Saxony. He succeeded his father on 10 September 954 at the age of thirteen and was crowned at the Abbey of Saint-Remi by Artald of Reims, Archbishop of Reims on 12 November 954. Queen Gerberga made an arrangement with her brother-in-law Hugh the Great, Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris, in exchange for supporting Lothairs rule Hugh was given rule over Duchy of Aquitaine and much of Kingdom of Burgundy as more or less a regent. Lothair inherited a kingdom, where the great magnates took lands, rights. Magnates like Hugh the Great and Herbert II, Count of Vermandois were always a veiled threat, in 955 Lothair and Hugh the Great together took Poitiers by siege. With Hugh the Greats death in 956 Lothair, only fifteen, came under the guardianship of his maternal uncle Bruno, archbishop of Cologne, with Brunos advice, Lothair mediated between Hughs sons - Hugh Capet and Otto, Duke of Burgundy. The King gave Paris and the title of dux francorum to Hugh Capet, the guardianship of Archbishop Bruno of Cologne lasted until 965 and oriented Lothair towards policy of submission towards the East Francia, which was evolving into German Holy Roman Empire. Despite his youth, Lothair wanted to rule alone and reinforced his authority over his vassals and this desire of political independence led to a deterioration in relations between the King and his maternal relatives and a struggle with the new Holy Roman Empire. Despite this, Lothair wanted to maintain ties with Emperor Otto I by marrying Princess Emma of Italy in early 966, in 962 Baldwin III, Count of Flanders, son, co-ruler, and heir of Arnulf I, Count of Flanders died and Arnulf bequeathed Flanders to Lothair. On Arnulfs death in 965, Lothair invaded Flanders and took many cities and he temporarily remained in control of Arras and Douai. Lothair attempted to increase his influence in the Lotharingia, once held by his family, a great battle, which remained undecided, took place in Mons. Although Lothair secretly encouraged this war, he did not intervene directly to help his brother, Charles took advantage of the situation and established himself in Lotharingia. In 977, Charles accused Queen Emma of adultery with Bishop Adalberon of Laon, the Synod of Sainte-Macre, led by Archbishop Adalberon of Reims, took place in Fismes to discuss the matter. Due to a lack of evidence, both the Queen and Bishop were absolved, but Charles, who maintained the rumors, was expelled from the kingdom by Lothair. The House of Ardennes and the Lotharingian party, who were favorable to an agreement with Otto II, rewarding Charles, who had questioned the honor of the wife of the King of the Franks, was a way to offend the King himself. In August 978 Lothair mounted an expedition into Lorraine accompanied by Hugh Capet and upon their crossing the Meuse river took Aachen, Lothair then sacked the imperial Palace of Aachen for three days, and reversed the direction of the bronze eagle of Charlemagne to face east instead of west. In retaliation Otto II, accompanied by Charles, invaded West Francia in October 978 and ravaged Reims, Soissons and Laon

94.
Hugh Capet
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Hugh Capet was the first King of the Franks of the House of Capet from his election in 987 until his death. He succeeded the last Carolingian king, Louis V, the son of Hugh the Great, Duke of the Franks, and Hedwige of Saxony, daughter of the German king Henry the Fowler, Hugh was born in 941. Hugh Capet was born into a well-connected and powerful family with ties to the royal houses of France. Through his mother, Hugh was the nephew to Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Henry I, Duke of Bavaria, Bruno the Great, Archbishop of Cologne, and finally, Gerberga of Saxony, Queen of France. Gerberga was the wife of Louis IV, King of France and mother of Lothair of France and Charles and his paternal family, the Robertians, were powerful landowners in the Île-de-France. His grandfather had been King Robert I, King Odo was his granduncle and King Rudolph was his uncle by affinity. Hughs paternal grandmother was a descendant of Charlemagne, after the end of the ninth century, the descendants of Robert the Strong became indispensable in carrying out royal policies. As Carolingian power failed, the nobles of West Francia began to assert that the monarchy was elective, not hereditary. Robert I, Hugh the Greats father, was succeeded as King of the Franks by his son-in-law, when Rudolph died in 936, Hugh the Great had to decide whether he ought to claim the throne for himself. To block his rivals, Hugh the Great brought Louis dOutremer and this maneuver allowed Hugh to become the most powerful person in France in the first half of the tenth century. Once in power, Louis IV granted him the title of dux Francorum, Louis also officially declared Hugh the second after us in all our kingdoms. Hugh also gained power when Herbert II of Vermandois died in 943, Hugh the Great came to dominate a wide swath of central France, from Orléans and Senlis to Auxerre and Sens, while the king was rather confined to the area northeast of Paris. The realm in which Hugh grew up, and of which he would one day be king, Hughs predecessors did not call themselves kings of France, and that title was not used by his successors until the time of his descendant, Philip II. Kings ruled as rex Francorum, the remaining in use until 1190 The lands they ruled comprised only a small part of the former Carolingian Empire. The eastern Frankish lands, the Holy Roman Empire, were ruled by the Ottonian dynasty, represented by Hughs first cousin Otto II and then by Ottos son, Otto III. The lands south of the river Loire had largely ceased to be part of the West Francia kingdom in the years after Charles the Simple was deposed in 922. Both the Duchy of Normandy and the Duchy of Burgundy were largely independent, in 956, when his father Hugh the Great died, Hugh, the eldest son, was then about fifteen years old and had two younger brothers. In 954, Otto I appointed his brother Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lorraine, as guardian of Lothair, in 956, Otto gave him the same role over Hugh and the Robertian principality

95.
Robert II of France
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Robert II, called the Pious or the Wise, was King of the Franks from 996 until his death. The second reigning member of the House of Capet, he was born in Orléans to Hugh Capet, immediately after his own coronation, Roberts father Hugh began to push for the coronation of Robert. Lewis has observed, in tracing the phenomenon in this line of kings who lacked dynastic legitimacy, ralph Glaber, however, attributes Hughs request to his old age and inability to control the nobility. Robert was eventually crowned on 25 December 987, Robert had begun to take on active royal duties with his father in the early 990s. In 991, he helped his father prevent the French bishops from trekking to Mousson in the Kingdom of Germany for a synod called by Pope John XV and she was the widow of Arnulf II of Flanders, with whom she had two children. Robert divorced her within a year of his fathers death in 996 and he tried instead to marry Bertha, daughter of Conrad of Burgundy, around the time of his fathers death. She was a widow of Odo I of Blois, but was also Roberts cousin, for reasons of consanguinity, Pope Gregory V refused to sanction the marriage, and Robert was excommunicated. After long negotiations with Gregorys successor, Sylvester II, the marriage was annulled, finally, in 1001, Robert entered into his final and longest-lasting marriage to Constance of Arles, the daughter of William I of Provence. Her southern customs and entourage were regarded with suspicion at court, after his companion Hugh of Beauvais urged the king to repudiate her as well, knights of her kinsman Fulk III, Count of Anjou had Beauvais murdered. The king and Bertha then went to Rome to ask Pope Sergius IV for an annulment so they could remarry, after this was refused, he went back to Constance and fathered several children by her. Her ambition alienated the chroniclers of her day, who blamed her for several of the kings decisions, Constance and Robert remained married until his death in 1031. Robert was a devout Catholic, hence his sobriquet the Pious and he was musically inclined, being a composer, chorister, and poet, and made his palace a place of religious seclusion where he conducted the matins and vespers in his royal robes. Roberts reputation for piety also resulted from his lack of toleration for heretics and he is credited with advocating forced conversions of local Jewry. He supported riots against the Jews of Orléans who were accused of conspiring to destroy the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, furthermore, Robert reinstated the Roman imperial custom of burning heretics at the stake. In 1003, his invasion of the Duchy of Burgundy was thwarted, the pious Robert made few friends and many enemies, including his own sons, Hugh, Henry, and Robert. They turned against their father in a war over power. Hugh died in revolt in 1025, in a conflict with Henry and the younger Robert, King Roberts army was defeated, and he retreated to Beaugency outside Paris, his capital. He died in the middle of the war with his sons on 20 July 1031 at Melun and he was interred with Constance in Saint Denis Basilica and succeeded by his son Henry, in both France and Burgundy

Robert II of France
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The Excommunication of Robert the Pious by Jean-Paul Laurens (1875)
Robert II of France
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Denier of Robert II the Pious, struck at Soissons
Robert II of France
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Seal of Robert II
Robert II of France
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Effigies of Robert II (middle) and Constance d'Arles (front) at Basilique Saint-Denis.

96.
Philip I of France
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Philip I, called the Amorous, was King of the Franks from 1060 to his death. His reign, like that of most of the early Capetians, was long for the time. The monarchy began a modest recovery from the low it reached in the reign of his father and he added to the royal demesne the Vexin, Philip was born 23 May 1052 at Champagne-et-Fontaine, the son of Henry I and his wife Anne of Kiev. Unusual at the time for Western Europe, his name was of Greek origin, although he was crowned king at the age of seven, until age fourteen his mother acted as regent, the first queen of France ever to do so. Baldwin V of Flanders also acted as co-regent, following the death of Baldwin VI of Flanders, Robert the Frisian seized Flanders. Baldwins wife, Richilda requested aid from Philip, who defeated Robert at the battle of Cassel in 1071, Philip first married Bertha in 1072. Although the marriage produced the heir, Philip fell in love with Bertrade de Montfort. He repudiated Bertha and married Bertrade on 15 May 1092, in 1094, he was excommunicated by Hugh of Die, for the first time, after a long silence, Pope Urban II repeated the excommunication at the Council of Clermont in November 1095. In France, the king was opposed by Bishop Ivo of Chartres, Philip appointed Alberic first Constable of France in 1060. A great part of his reign, like his fathers, was spent putting down revolts by his power-hungry vassals, in 1077, he made peace with William the Conqueror, who gave up attempting the conquest of Brittany. In 1082, Philip I expanded his demesne with the annexation of the Vexin, then in 1100, he took control of Bourges. It was at the aforementioned Council of Clermont that the First Crusade was launched, Philip at first did not personally support it because of his conflict with Urban II. Philips brother Hugh of Vermandois, however, was a major participant, Philip died in the castle of Melun and was buried per request at the monastery of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire – and not in St Denis among his forefathers. He was succeeded by his son, Louis VI, whose succession was, however, according to Abbot Suger, Philip‘s children with Bertha were, Constance, married Hugh I of Champagne before 1097 and then, after her divorce, to Bohemund I of Antioch in 1106

Philip I of France
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Philip's tomb effigy in Fleury Abbey
Philip I of France
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2nd type denier during Philip I

97.
Louis VI of France
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Louis VI, called the Fat, was King of the Franks from 1108 until his death. Chronicles called him roi de Saint-Denis, nonetheless, Louis VI managed to reinforce his power considerably and became one of the first strong kings of France since the division of the Carolingian Empire in 843. Louis was a king but by his forties his weight had become so great that it was increasingly difficult for him to lead in the field. Louis was born on 1 December 1081 in Paris, the son of Philip I and his first wife, and. How valiant he was in youth, and with what energy he repelled the king of the English, William Rufus, when he attacked Louis inherited kingdom. Louis married Lucienne de Rochefort, a French crown princess, in 1104, on 3 August 1115 Louis married Adelaide of Maurienne, daughter of Humbert II of Savoy and Gisela of Burgundy, and niece of Pope Callixtus II. Adelaide was one of the most politically active of all Frances medieval queens and her name appears on 45 royal charters from the reign of Louis VI. During her tenure as queen, royal charters were dated with both her regnal year and that of the king, suger became Louiss adviser before he became king and he succeeded his father at the age of 26 on 29 July 1108. Louiss half-brother prevented him from reaching Rheims, and so Daimbert, Archbishop of Sens, ralph the Green, Archbishop of Rheims, sent envoys to challenge the validity of the coronation and anointing, but to no avail. When Louis ascended the throne the Kingdom of France was a collection of feudal principalities, beyond the Isle de France the French Kings had little authority over the great Dukes and Counts of the realm but slowly Louis began to change this and assert Capetian rights. This process would take two centuries to complete but began in the reign of Louis VI, the second great challenge facing Louis was to counter the rising power of the Anglo-Normans under their capable new King, Henry I of England. From early in his reign Louis faced the problem of the barons who resisted the Kings authority and engaged in brigandry. In 1108, soon after he ascended the throne, Louis engaged in war with Hugh of Crecy, who was plaguing the countryside and had captured Eudes, Count of Corbeil, Louis besieged that fortress to free Eudes. In early 1109, Louis besieged his half-brother, Philip, the son of Bertrade de Montfort, philips plots included the lords of Montfort-lAmaury. Amaury III of Montfort held many castles which, when linked together, in 1108-1109 a seigneur named Aymon Vaire-Vache seized the lordship of Bourbon from his nephew, Archambaud, a minor. Louis demanded the boy be restored to his rights but Aymon refused the summons, Louis raised his army and besieged Aymon at his castle at Germigny-sur-lAubois, forcing its surrender and enforcing the rights of Archambaud. In 1122, Aimeri, Bishop of Clermont, appealed to Louis after William VI, Count of Auvergne, had driven him from his episcopal town. When William refused Louis summons, Louis raised an army at Bourges, and marched into Auvergne, supported by some of his vassals, such as the Counts of Anjou, Brittany. Louis seized the fortress of Pont-du-Chateau on the Allier, then attacked Clermont, four years later William rebelled again and Louis, though his increasing weight made campaigning difficult, marched again

98.
Philip II of France
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Philip II, known as Philip Augustus, was King of France from 1180 to 1223, a member of the House of Capet. Philips predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French monarch to style himself king of France. The son of King Louis VII and his wife, Adèle of Champagne, he was originally nicknamed Dieudonné God-given because he was the first son of Louis VII. Philip was given the nickname Augustus by the chronicler Rigord for having extended the Crown lands of France so remarkably, the military actions surrounding the Albigensian Crusade helped prepare the expansion of France southward. Philip did not participate directly in these actions, but he allowed his vassals, Philip transformed France from a small feudal state into the most prosperous and powerful country in Europe. He checked the power of the nobles and helped the towns to free themselves from seigniorial authority and he built a great wall around Paris, re-organized the French government and brought financial stability to his country. Philip was born in Gonesse on 21 August 1165 and he spent much of the following night attempting to find his way out, but to no avail. Exhausted by cold, hunger and fatigue, he was discovered by a peasant carrying a charcoal burner. His father went on pilgrimage to the Shrine of Thomas Becket to pray for Philips recovery and was told that his son had indeed recovered, however, on his way back to Paris, he suffered a stroke. In declining health, Louis VII had his 14-year-old son crowned and anointed as king at Rheims on 1 November 1179 by the Archbishop Guillaume aux Blanches Mains. He was married on 28 April 1180 to Isabelle of Hainaut, the daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut, and Margaret I, Countess of Flanders, who brought the County of Artois as her dowry. From the time of his coronation, all power was transferred to Philip. Eventually, Louis died on 18 September 1180, while the royal demesne had increased under Philip I and Louis VI, it had diminished slightly under Louis VII. In April 1182, partially to enrich the French crown, Philip expelled all Jews from the demesne, Philips eldest son Louis was born on 5 September 1187 and inherited the County of Artois in 1190, when his mother Isabelle died. The main source of funding for Philips army was from the royal demesne, in times of conflict, he could immediately call up 250 knights,250 horse sergeants,100 mounted crossbowmen,133 crossbowmen on foot,2,000 foot sergeants, and 300 mercenaries. Towards the end of his reign, the king could muster some 3,000 knights,9,000 sergeants,6,000 urban militiamen, using his increased revenues, Philip was the first Capetian king to build a French navy actively. By 1215, his fleet could carry a total of 7,000 men, within two years, his fleet included 10 large ships and many smaller ones. In 1181, Philip began a war with Philip, Count of Flanders, over the Vermandois, which King Philip claimed as his wifes dowry, finally the Count of Flanders invaded France, ravaging the whole district between the Somme and the Oise before penetrating as far as Dammartin

Philip II of France
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Seal of Philip II
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Isabelle, Philip's first wife.
Philip II of France
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The coronation of Philip II Augustus in the presence of Henry II of England
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Remains of the Wall of Philip II Augustus built around Paris before he went to the Crusades. The segment pictured here is found in the Rue des Jardins-Saint-Paul, Paris

99.
Louis VIII of France
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Louis VIII the Lion was King of France from 1223 to 1226. He also claimed the title King of England from 1216 to 1217, Louis VIII was born in Paris, the son of King Philip II of France and Isabelle of Hainaut, from whom he inherited the County of Artois. While Louis VIII only briefly reigned as king of France, he was a leader in his years as crown prince. During the First Barons War of 1215-17 against King John of England, after his victory at the Battle of Roche-au-Moine in 1214, he invaded southern England and was proclaimed King of England by rebellious barons in London on the 2 June 1216. He was never crowned, however, and renounced his claim after being excommunicated and repelled, in 1217, Louis started the conquest of Guyenne, leaving only a small region around Bordeaux to Henry III of England. Louiss short reign was marked by an intervention using royal forces into the Albigensian Crusade in southern France that decisively moved the conflict towards a conclusion and he died in 1226 and was succeeded by his son Louis IX. In summer 1195, a marriage between Louis and Eleanor of Brittany, niece of Richard I of England, was suggested for an alliance between Philip II and Richard, but it failed and this led to a sudden deterioration in relations between Richard and Philip. On 23 May 1200, at the age of 12, Louis was married to Blanche of Castile, daughter of King Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England, the marriage could only be concluded after prolonged negotiations between King Philip II of France and Blanches uncle John. In 1214, King John of England began his campaign to reclaim the Duchy of Normandy from Philip II. John was optimistic, as he had built up alliances with Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV, Count Renaud of Boulogne. Johns plan was to split Philips forces by pushing north-east from Poitou towards Paris, while Otto, Renaud and Ferdinand, supported by the Earl of Salisbury, marched south-west from Flanders. Whereas Philip II took personal command of the front against the emperor and his allies. The first part of the campaign went well for the English, with John outmanoeuvring the forces under the command of Prince Louis, John besieged the castle of Roche-au-Moine, a key stronghold, forcing Louis to give battle against Johns larger army. The local Angevin nobles refused to advance with the king, left at something of a disadvantage, shortly afterwards, Philip won the hard-fought Battle of Bouvines in the north against Otto and Johns other allies, bringing an end to Johns hopes of retaking Normandy. In 1215, the English barons rebelled against the unpopular King John in the First Barons War, the barons offered the throne to Prince Louis, who landed unopposed on the Isle of Thanet in eastern Kent, England, at the head of an army on 21 May 1216. There was little resistance when the prince entered London, and Louis was proclaimed king at Old St Pauls Cathedral with great pomp and celebration in the presence of all of London. Even though he was not crowned, many nobles, as well as King Alexander II of Scotland on behalf of his English possessions, on 14 June 1216, Louis captured Winchester and soon controlled over half of the English kingdom. But just when it seemed that England was his, King Johns death in October 1216 caused many of the barons to desert Louis in favour of Johns nine-year-old son

100.
Louis X of France
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Louis was the eldest son of Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre. Louis uncle—Charles of Valois, leader of the feudalist party—managed to convince the king to execute Enguerrand de Marigny, Louis allowed serfs to buy their freedom, abolished slavery, and readmitted French Jews into the kingdom. In 1305, Louis had married Margaret of Burgundy, with whom he had Joan II of Navarre, Margaret was later convicted of adultery and died in prison, possibly murdered by strangulation. In 1315, Louis married Clementia of Hungary, who gave birth to John I of France a few months after the kings death, johns untimely death led to a disputed succession. Louis was born in Paris, the eldest son of Philip IV of France and he inherited the kingdom of Navarre on the death of his mother, on 4 April 1305, later being crowned 6 June 1313. On 21 September 1305, at age 16, he married Margaret of Burgundy and they had a daughter, Louis was known as the Quarreler as the result of the tensions prevailing throughout his reigns. Both Louis and Margaret became involved in the Tour de Nesle affair towards the end of Philips reign, in 1314, Margaret, Blanche and Joan—the latter two being the wives of Louis brothers Charles and Philip, respectively—were arrested on charges of infidelity. Margaret and Blanche were both tried before the French parliament later that year and found guilty and their alleged lovers were executed, and the women had their hair shorn and were sentenced to life imprisonment. Philip stood by his wife Joan, who was found innocent. Margaret would be imprisoned at Chateau Gaillard, where she died, on the death of his father in 1314, Louis became King of France. Louis and Clementia were crowned at Reims on 24 August 1315, Louis was king of Navarre for eleven years and king of France for less than two years. In 1315, Louis X published a decree proclaiming that France signifies freedom and this prompted subsequent governments to circumscribe slavery in the overseas colonies. Leagues of regional nobles began to form around the country, demanding changes, when these failed, Charles then convinced Louis to bring sorcery charges against him instead, which proved more effective and led to de Marignys execution at Vincennes in April 1315. Other former ministers were similarly prosecuted and this, combined with the halting of Philips reforms, the issuing of numerous charters of rights and a reversion to more traditional rule, largely assuaged the regional leagues. In practical terms, Louis X effectively abolished slavery within the Kingdom of France in 1315, Louis continued to require revenues, however, and alighted on a reform of French serfdom as a way of achieving this. Arguing that all men are free, Louis declared in 1315 that French serfs would therefore be freed. A body of commissioners was established to undertake the reform, establishing the peculium, or value, of each serf. For serfs owned directly by the King, all of the peculium would be received by the Crown – for serfs owned by subjects of the King, Louis was also responsible for a key shift in policy towards the Jews

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A contemporary picture from the Généalogie des rois de France'
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Louis being crowned with his second wife, Clementia of Hungary.
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Louis campaigning in Flanders, where he sought a military solution to the ongoing problem of the "immensely wealthy", quasi-autonomous province of France.

101.
Charles IV of France
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Charles IV, called the Fair in France and the Bald in Navarre, was the last direct Capetian King of France and King of Navarre from 1322 to his death. Charles was the son of Philip IV, like his father. Beginning in 1323 Charles was confronted with a peasant revolt in Flanders, as duke of Guyenne, King Edward II of England was a vassal of Charles, but he was reluctant to pay homage to another king. In retaliation, Charles conquered the Duchy of Guyenne in a known as the War of Saint-Sardos. In a peace agreement, Edward II accepted to swear allegiance to Charles, in exchange, Guyenne was returned to Edward but with a much-reduced territory. When Charles IV died without heir, the senior lineage of the House of Capet ended. He was succeeded by his cousin Philip of Valois, but the legitimacy was one factor of the Hundred Years War. By virtue of the birthright of his mother, Joan I of Navarre, Charles claimed the title Charles I, King of Navarre. From 1314 to his accession to the throne, he held the title of Count of La Marche and was crowned King of France in 1322 at the cathedral in Reims. Charles married his first wife, Blanche of Burgundy, the daughter of Otto IV, Count of Burgundy, in 1308, after Charles assumed the throne he refused to release Blanche, their marriage was annulled, and Blanche retreated to a nunnery. His second wife, Marie of Luxembourg, the daughter of Henry VII, Charles married again in 1325, this time to Jeanne dÉvreux, she was his first cousin, and the marriage required approval from Pope John XXII. Jeanne was crowned queen in 1326, in one of the better recorded French coronation ceremonies, the coronation was also the first appearance of the latterly famous medieval cook, Guillaume Tirel, then only a junior servant. During the first half of his reign Charles relied heavily on his uncle, Charles of Valois, for advice, Charles of Valois would have been aware that if Charles died without male heirs, he and his male heirs would have a good claim to the crown. Charles undertook rapid steps to assert his own control, executing the Count of LIsle-Jourdain, a troublesome southern noble, Charles, a relatively well educated king, also founded a famous library at Fontainebleau. During his six-year reign Charles administration became increasingly unpopular and he debased the coinage to his own benefit, sold offices, increased taxation, exacted burdensome duties, and confiscated estates from enemies or those he disliked. He was also involved in Jewish issues during the period. Charles father, Philip IV, had confiscated the estates of numerous Jews in 1306, and Charles took vigorous, finally, Charles at least acquiesced, or at worst actively ordered, in the expulsion of many Jews from France following the leper scare. Charles inherited a long-running period of tension between England and France, once Charles took up the throne, Edward attempted to avoid payment again

Charles IV of France
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Charles the Fair
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Marriage of Charles IV and Marie of Luxembourg, by Jean Fouquet
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A Charles IV tournois coin; Charles manipulated the French coinage during his reign, creating some unpopularity.
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A near-contemporary miniature showing the future Edward III giving homage to Charles IV under the guidance of Edward's mother, and Charles' sister, Isabella, in 1325.

102.
Louis XII of France
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Louis XII was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his cousin Charles VIII, who died without a closer heir in 1498. Before his accession to the throne of France, he was known as Louis of Orléans and was compelled to be married to his disabled and supposedly sterile cousin Joan by his second cousin, king Louis XI. By doing so, Louis XI hoped to extinguish the Orléans cadet branch of the House of Valois, Louis of Orléans was one of the great feudal lords who opposed the French monarchy in the conflict known as the Mad War. At the royal victory in the Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier in 1488, Louis was captured and he subsequently took part in the Italian War of 1494–1498 as one of the French commanders. When Louis XII became king in 1498, he had his marriage with Joan annulled by Pope Alexander VI and instead married Anne of Brittany and this marriage allowed Louis to reinforce the personal Union of Brittany and France. Louis persevered in the Italian Wars, initiating a second Italian campaign for the control of the Kingdom of Naples, Louis conquered the Duchy of Milan in 1500 and pushed forward to the Kingdom of Naples, which fell to him in 1501. Proclaimed King of Naples, Louis faced a new coalition gathered by Ferdinand II of Aragon and was forced to cede Naples to Spain in 1504. A popular king, Louis was proclaimed Father of the People in 1506 by the Estates-General of Tours for his reduction of the tax known as taille, legal reforms, Louis XII died in 1515 without a male heir. He was succeeded by his cousin Francis from the Angoulême cadet branch of the House of Valois, Louis was born on 27 June 1462 in the Château de Blois, Touraine. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, however, Louis XI may have been more influenced in this opinion by his opposition to the entire Orleanist faction of the royal family than by the actual facts of this paternity case. Despite any alleged doubts that King Louis XI may have had, King Louis XI died on 30 August 1483. He was succeeded to the throne of France by his thirteen year-old son, nobody knew the direction which the new king would take in leading the kingdom. Accordingly, on 24 October 1483, a call went out for a convocation of the Estates General of the French kingdom, in January 1484, deputies of the Estates General began to arrive in Tours, France. The deputies represented three different estates in society, the First Estate was the Church, in France this meant the Roman Catholic Church. The Second Estate was composed of the nobility and the royalty of France, the Third Estate was generally composed of commoners and the class of traders and merchants in France. Louis, the current Duke of Orleans and future Louis XII, each estate brought their chief complaints to the Estates General in hopes to have some impact on the policies that the new King would pursue. The First Estate wanted a return to the Pragmatic Sanction, the Pragmatic Sanction had been first instituted by King Charles VII, the current King Charles VIIIs grandfather

103.
Francis I of France
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Francis I was the first King of France from the Angoulême branch of the House of Valois, reigning from 1515 until his death. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and he succeeded his cousin and father-in-law Louis XII, who died without a male heir. Francis reign saw important cultural changes with the rise of absolute monarchy in France, the spread of humanism and Protestantism, Jacques Cartier and others claimed lands in the Americas for France and paved the way for the expansion of the first French colonial empire. For his role in the development and promotion of a standardized French language, he became known as le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres. He was also known as François au Grand Nez, the Grand Colas, following the policy of his predecessors, Francis continued the Italian Wars. In his struggle against Imperial hegemony, he sought the support of Henry VIII of England at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. When this was unsuccessful, he formed a Franco-Ottoman alliance with the Muslim sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, a controversial move for a Christian king at the time. Francis was born on 12 September 1494 at the Château de Cognac in the town of Cognac, which at that time lay in the province of Saintonge, today the town lies in the department of Charente. Francis was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. His family was not expected to inherit the throne, as his third cousin King Charles VIII was still young at the time of his birth, as was his fathers cousin the Duke of Orléans, later King Louis XII. However, Charles VIII died childless in 1498 and was succeeded by Louis XII, the Salic Law prevailed in France, thus females were ineligible to inherit the throne. Therefore, the four-year-old Francis became the heir presumptive to the throne of France in 1498 and was vested with the title of Duke of Valois. In 1505, Louis XII, having fallen ill, ordered that his daughter Claude and Francis be married immediately, Claude was heiress to the Duchy of Brittany through her mother, Anne of Brittany. Following Annes death, the took place on 18 May 1514. Louis died shortly afterwards and Francis inherited the throne and he was crowned King of France in the Cathedral of Reims on 25 January 1515, with Claude as his queen consort. As Francis was receiving his education, ideas emerging from the Italian Renaissance were influential in France, some of his tutors, such as François Desmoulins de Rochefort and Christophe de Longueil, were attracted by these new ways of thinking and attempted to influence Francis. His academic education had been in arithmetic, geography, grammar, history, reading, spelling, Francis came to learn chivalry, dancing, and music and he loved archery, falconry, horseback riding, hunting, jousting, real tennis and wrestling. He ended up reading philosophy and theology and he was fascinated with art, literature, poetry and his mother, who had a high admiration for Italian Renaissance art, passed this interest on to her son

104.
Francis II of France
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Francis II was a monarch of the House of Valois-Angoulême who was King of France from 1559 to 1560. He was also King consort of Scotland as a result of his marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots. He ascended the throne of France at the age of fifteen after the death of his father, Henry II. His short reign was dominated by the first stirrings of the French Wars of Religion and they were unable to help Catholics in Scotland against the progressing Scottish Reformation, however, and the Auld Alliance was dissolved. Francis was succeeded by two of his brothers in turn, both of whom were unable to reduce tensions between Protestants and Catholics. Born eleven years after his parents wedding, Francis was named for his grandfather and he was baptized on 10 February 1544 at the Chapelle des Trinitaires in Fontainebleau. His godparents were Francis I, Pope Paul III, and his great-aunt Marguerite de Navarre and he became governor of Languedoc in 1546, and Dauphin of France in 1547, when his grandfather Francis I died. Franciss governor was Jean dHumières and his tutor was Pierre Danès and he learned dancing from Virgilio Bracesco and fencing from Hector of Mantua. King Henry II, his father, arranged a betrothal for his son to Mary, Queen of Scots, in the Châtillon agreement of 27 January 1548. Mary had been crowned Queen of Scots in Stirling Castle on 9 September 1543 at the age of nine following the death of her father James V. Besides being the queen of Scotland, Mary was a granddaughter of Claude, Duke of Guise, once the marriage agreement was formally ratified, the six-year-old Mary was sent to France to be raised at court until the marriage. On 24 April 1558, the fourteen-year-old Dauphin married the Queen of Scots in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It was a union that could have given the kings of France the throne of Scotland and also a claim to the throne of England through Marys great grandfather. Until his death, Francis held the title King of Scotland, Mary and Francis were to have no children during their short marriage, however, possibly due to Francis illnesses or his undescended testicles. A little over a year after his marriage, on 10 July 1559, Francis became king at the age of fifteen upon the death of his father Henry II, on 21 September 1559, Francis II was crowned king in Reims by his uncle Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine. The crown was so heavy that nobles had to hold it in place for him, the court then moved to the Loire Valley, where the Château de Blois and the surrounding forests were the new kings home. Francis II took the sun for his emblem and for his mottoes Spectanda fides, according to French law, Francis at the age of fifteen was an adult who in theory did not need a regent. But since he was young, inexperienced, and in health, he delegated his power to his wifes uncles from the noble House of Guise, François, Duke of Guise

105.
Henry III of France
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Henry III was a monarch of the House of Valois who was elected the monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1573 to 1575 and ruled as King of France from 1574 until his death. He was the last French monarch of the Valois dynasty, as the fourth son of King Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici, Henry was not expected to assume the throne of France. He was thus a candidate for the vacant Commonwealth throne. Henrys rule over Commonwealth was brief, but notable, the Henrician Articles he signed into law accepting the Commonwealth throne established Poland as an elective monarchy subject to free election by the Polish nobility. Of his three brothers, two would live long enough to ascend the French throne, but both died young and without a legitimate male heir. He abandoned Commonwealth upon receiving word that he had inherited the throne of France at the age of 22, Henry III was himself a politique, arguing that a strong and religiously tolerant monarchy would save France from collapse. Henry IIIs legitimate heir was his distant cousin Henry, King of Navarre, the Catholic League, led by Henry I, Duke of Guise, sought to exclude Protestants from the succession and championed the Catholic Charles, Cardinal of Bourbon, as Henry IIIs heir. Henry was born at the royal Château de Fontainebleau, the son of King Henry II and Catherine de Medici and grandson of Francis I of France. His older brothers were Francis II of France, Charles IX of France and he was made Duke of Angoulême and Duke of Orléans in 1560, then Duke of Anjou in 1566. He was his mothers favourite, she called him chers yeux and lavished fondness and his elder brother, Charles, grew to detest him, partially because he resented his better health. In his youth, Henry was considered the best of the sons of Catherine de Medici, unlike his father and elder brothers, he had little interest in the traditional Valois pastimes of hunting and physical exercise. Although he was fond of fencing and skilled in it, he preferred to indulge his tastes for the arts. These predilections were attributed to his Italian mother, at one point in his youth he showed a tendency towards Protestantism as a means of rebelling. At the age of nine, calling himself a little Huguenot, he refused to attend Mass, sang Protestant psalms to his sister Margaret and his mother firmly cautioned her children against such behaviour, and he would never again show any Protestant tendencies. Instead, he became nominally Roman Catholic, reports that Henry engaged in same sex relations with his court favourites, known as the mignons, date back to his own time. Certainly he enjoyed relationships with them. The scholar Louis Crompton provides substantial contemporary evidence of Henry IIIs homosexuality, and it is difficult, he writes, to reconcile the king whose use of favourites is so logically strategic with the man who goes to pieces when one of them dies. In 1570, discussions commenced to arrange for Henry to court Queen Elizabeth I of England, Elizabeth, almost 37, was expected by many parties in her country to marry and produce an heir

106.
Henry IV of France
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Henry IV, also known by the epithet Good King Henry, was King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first French monarch of the House of Bourbon, baptised as a Catholic but raised in the Protestant faith by his mother Jeanne dAlbret, Queen of Navarre, he inherited the throne of Navarre in 1572 on the death of his mother. As a Huguenot, Henry was involved in the French Wars of Religion, barely escaping assassination in the St. Bartholomews Day massacre, and later led Protestant forces against the royal army. Henry, as Head of the House of Bourbon, was a direct descendant of Louis IX of France. Upon the death of his brother-in-law and distant cousin Henry III of France in 1589 and he initially kept the Protestant faith and had to fight against the Catholic League, which denied that he could wear Frances crown as a Protestant. To obtain mastery over his kingdom, after four years of stalemate, as a pragmatic politician, he displayed an unusual religious tolerance for the era. Notably, he promulgated the Edict of Nantes, which guaranteed religious liberties to Protestants and he was assassinated in 1610 by François Ravaillac, a fanatical Catholic, and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII. Considered a usurper by some Catholics and a traitor by some Protestants, an unpopular king immediately after his accession, Henrys popularity greatly improved after his death, in light of repeated victories over his enemies and his conversion to Catholicism. The Good King Henry was remembered for his geniality and his concern about the welfare of his subjects. He was celebrated in the popular song Vive le roi Henri, Henry was born in Pau, the capital of the joint Kingdom of Navarre with the sovereign principality of Béarn. His parents were Queen Joan III of Navarre and her consort, Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, although baptised as a Roman Catholic, Henry was raised as a Protestant by his mother, who had declared Calvinism the religion of Navarre. As a teenager, Henry joined the Huguenot forces in the French Wars of Religion, on 9 June 1572, upon his mothers death, he became King of Navarre. At Queen Joans death, it was arranged for Henry to marry Margaret of Valois, daughter of Henry II, the wedding took place in Paris on 18 August 1572 on the parvis of Notre Dame Cathedral. On 24 August, the Saint Bartholomews Day Massacre began in Paris, several thousand Protestants who had come to Paris for Henrys wedding were killed, as well as thousands more throughout the country in the days that followed. Henry narrowly escaped death thanks to the help of his wife and he was made to live at the court of France, but he escaped in early 1576. On 5 February of that year, he formally abjured Catholicism at Tours and he named his 16-year-old sister, Catherine de Bourbon, regent of Béarn. Catherine held the regency for nearly thirty years, Henry became heir presumptive to the French throne in 1584 upon the death of Francis, Duke of Anjou, brother and heir to the Catholic Henry III, who had succeeded Charles IX in 1574. Because Henry of Navarre was the senior agnatic descendant of King Louis IX, King Henry III had no choice

107.
Louis XIV of France
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Louis XIV, known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any monarch of a country in European history. In the age of absolutism in Europe, Louis XIVs France was a leader in the centralization of power. Louis began his rule of France in 1661, after the death of his chief minister. By these means he became one of the most powerful French monarchs, under his rule, the Edict of Nantes, which granted rights to Huguenots, was abolished. The revocation effectively forced Huguenots to emigrate or convert in a wave of dragonnades, which managed to virtually destroy the French Protestant minority. During Louis reign, France was the leading European power, and it fought three wars, the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg. There were also two lesser conflicts, the War of Devolution and the War of the Reunions, warfare defined Louis XIVs foreign policies, and his personality shaped his approach. Impelled by a mix of commerce, revenge, and pique, in peacetime he concentrated on preparing for the next war. He taught his diplomats their job was to create tactical and strategic advantages for the French military, Louis XIV was born on 5 September 1638 in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. He was named Louis Dieudonné and bore the title of French heirs apparent. At the time of his birth, his parents had married for 23 years. His mother had experienced four stillbirths between 1619 and 1631, leading contemporaries thus regarded him as a divine gift and his birth a miracle of God. Sensing imminent death, Louis XIII decided to put his affairs in order in the spring of 1643, in defiance of custom, which would have made Queen Anne the sole Regent of France, the king decreed that a regency council would rule on his sons behalf. His lack of faith in Queen Annes political abilities was his primary rationale and he did, however, make the concession of appointing her head of the council. Louis relationship with his mother was uncommonly affectionate for the time, contemporaries and eyewitnesses claimed that the Queen would spend all her time with Louis. Both were greatly interested in food and theatre, and it is likely that Louis developed these interests through his close relationship with his mother. This long-lasting and loving relationship can be evidenced by excerpts in Louis journal entries, such as, but attachments formed later by shared qualities of the spirit are far more difficult to break than those formed merely by blood

108.
Louis XV of France
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Louis XV, known as Louis the Beloved, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five, Cardinal Fleury was his chief minister from 1726 until the Cardinals death in 1743, at which time the young king took sole control of the kingdom. During his reign, Louis returned the Austrian Netherlands, territory won at the Battle of Fontenoy of 1745, Louis also ceded New France in North America to Spain and Great Britain at the conclusion of the Seven Years War in 1763. He incorporated the territories of Lorraine and Corsica into the kingdom of France and he was succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI in 1774. French culture and influence were at their height in the first half of the eighteenth century, however, many scholars believe that Louis XVs decisions damaged the power of France, weakened the treasury, discredited the absolute monarchy, and made it more vulnerable to distrust and destruction. Evidence for this view is provided by the French Revolution, which broke out 15 years after his death, norman Davies characterized Louis XVs reign as one of debilitating stagnation, characterized by lost wars, endless clashes between the Court and Parliament, and religious feuds. A few scholars defend Louis, arguing that his negative reputation was based on propaganda meant to justify the French Revolution. Jerome Blum described him as a perpetual adolescent called to do a mans job, Louis XV was born in the Palace of Versailles on 15 February 1710 during the reign of Louis XIV. His grandfather, Louis Le Grand Dauphin, had three sons with his wife Marie Anne Victoire of Bavaria, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, and Charles, Duke of Berry. Louis XV was the son of the Duke of Burgundy and his wife Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, the eldest daughter of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy. At birth, Louis XV received a title for younger sons of the French royal family. In April 1711, Louis Le Grand Dauphin suddenly died, making Louis XVs father, the Duke of Burgundy, at that time, Burgundy had two living sons, Louis, Duke of Brittany and his youngest son, the future Louis XV. A year later, Marie Adélaïde, Duchess of Burgundy, contracted smallpox and her husband, said to be heartbroken by her death, died the same week, also having contracted smallpox. Within a week of his death, it was clear that the two children had also been infected. The elder son was treated by bloodletting in an unsuccessful effort to save him. Fearing that the Dauphin would die, the Court had both the Dauphin and the Duke of Anjou baptised, the Dauphin died the same day,8 March 1712. His younger brother, the Duke of Anjou, was treated by his governess, Madame de Ventadour. The two year old Dauphin survived the smallpox, on 1 September 1715, Louis XIV died of gangrene, having reigned for 72 years

Louis XV of France
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Louis XV by Hyacinthe Rigaud (1730)
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Signature
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The duke of Brittany with his father Louis, Duke of Burgundy, his grandfather Louis, Le Grand Dauphin and his great-grandfather King Louis XIV in 1709. The future Louis XV, not yet born, is not on the painting.
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Two Louis d'or, 1717, depicting a very young Louis XV

109.
Louis XVII of France
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As the son of the king, he was a Fils de France. His older brother, Louis Joseph, died in June 1789, when his father was executed on 21 January 1793, during the middle-period of the French Revolution, he became King of France and Navarre in the eyes of the royalists. However, since France was by then a republic, and Louis XVII had been imprisoned from August 1792 until his death from illness in 1795 at the age of 10, he was never officially king, nor did he rule. Louis-Charles de France was born at the Palace of Versailles, the son and third child of his parents, Louis XVI. He became the Dauphin at the death of his elder brother, as customary in royal families, Louis-Charles was cared for by multiple people. Queen Marie Antoinette appointed governesses to look after all three of her children, Louis-Charles original governess was Yolande de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac, who left France at the beginning of the revolution, on the night of 16–17 July 1789. She was replaced by marquise Louise Élisabeth de Tourzel, additionally, the queen selected Agathe de Rambaud to be the official nurse of Louis-Charles. Alain Decaux wrote, Madame de Rambaud was officially in charge of the care of the Dauphin from the day of his birth until 10 August 1792, in other words, for seven years. During these seven years, she never left him, she cradled him, took care of him, dressed him, comforted him, many times, more than Marie Antoinette, she was a true mother for him. On 21 June 1791, the tried to escape in what is known as the Flight to Varennes. After the family was recognized, they were back to Paris. When the Tuileries Palace was stormed by a mob on 10 August 1792. On 13 August, the family was imprisoned in the tower of the Temple. At first, their conditions were not extremely harsh, but they were prisoners and were re-styled as Capets by the newborn Republic, on 11 December, at the beginning of his trial, Louis XVI, was separated from his family. Under the new constitution, the heir to the throne of France, Louis-Charles held that title until the fall of the monarchy on 21 September 1792. At the death of his father on 21 January 1793, royalists and foreign powers intent on restoring the monarchy held him to be the new king of France, the tales told by royalist writers of the cruelty inflicted by Simon and his wife on the child are not proven. Louis Charles sister, Marie Therese, wrote in her memoires, about the monster Simon, antoine Simons wife Marie-Jeanne, in fact, took great care of the childs person. Stories survive narrating how he was encouraged to eat and drink to excess, however, the scenes related by Alcide de Beauchesne of the physical martyrdom of the child are not supported by any testimony, though he was at this time seen by a great number of people

110.
House of Bonaparte
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Napoleon turned the Grande Armée against every major European power and dominated continental Europe through a series of military victories during the Napoleonic Wars. He installed members of his family on the thrones of client states, the House of Bonaparte formed the Imperial House of France during the French Empire, together with some non-Bonaparte family members. The dynasty held power for around a decade until the Napoleonic Wars began to take their toll, between the years 1852 and 1870 there was a Second French Empire, when a member of the Bonaparte dynasty again ruled France, Napoleon III, the son of Louis Bonaparte. However, during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 the dynasty was ousted from the Imperial Throne. Since that time there has been a series of pretenders, supporters of the Bonaparte familys claim to the throne of France are known as Bonapartists. Current head Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon, has a Bourbon mother, the Bonaparte family were from minor Italian nobility who held most of their property in the hill town of San Miniato near Florence, Italy. The name derives from Italian, buona, good and parte, after settling in Florence the family enjoyed a relationship with the then ruling Medici family. Jacopo Buonaparte was a friend and advisor to Medici Pope Clement VII, jacopo was also a witness to and wrote an account of the sack of Rome, which is one of the most important historical documents recounting that event. Jacopos brother Benedetto Buonaparte maintained political neutrality, the family later separated into two branches, One stayed in San Miniato, and the other moved to Sarzana. Buonaparte-Sarzana, Nobili di Sarzana had been compelled to leave Florence due to the defeat of the Ghibellines, a member of the Sarzana branch and ancestor to Napoleon, Francesco Buonaparte came to Corsica in 16th century when the island was in Genoese possession. The Buonaparte tomb lies in the Church of San Francesco in San Miniato, the last member of the Italian branches was a canon named Gregorio Bonaparte, who died in 1803 leaving Napoleon as heir. Napoleon is the most prominent name associated with the Bonaparte family because he conquered much of the Western world during the part of the 19th century. He was elected as First Consul of France on 10 November 1799 with the help of his brother, Lucien Bonaparte and he was crowned Emperor of the French and ruled from 1804–1814,1815. Napoleons son Napoléon François Charles Joseph was created King of Rome and was later styled Napoléon II by loyalists of the dynasty, with his death, the family lost much of its remaining political appeal, though claimants continue to assert their right to the imperial title. A political movement for Corsican independence surfaced in the 1990s which included a Bonapartist restoration in its programme and he was a minor official in the local courts. Prince Napoléon Lucien Charles Murat, married Caroline Georgina Fraser, Prince Louis Napoléon Murat, married in Odessa, Eudoxia Mikhailovna Somova, had issue now extinct in male line. S. In 1804 Napoleon I changed the arms to Azure an imperial eagle or, the change applied to all members of his family except for his brother Lucien and his nephew, the son from Jeromes first marriage. According to a studies by G. Lucotte and his coauthors based on DNA research since 2011 and this haplogroup, rare in Europe, has its highest concentration in Ethiopia and in the Near East

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Napoleon Crossing the Alps (1801), by Jacques-Louis David.
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Imperial coat of arms
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The Four Napoleons
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Jérôme Bonaparte, founder of the legitimate line

111.
First French Empire
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The First French Empire, Note 1 was the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte of France and the dominant power in much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. Its name was a misnomer, as France already had colonies overseas and was short lived compared to the Colonial Empire, a series of wars, known collectively as the Napoleonic Wars, extended French influence over much of Western Europe and into Poland. The plot included Bonapartes brother Lucien, then serving as speaker of the Council of Five Hundred, Roger Ducos, another Director, on 9 November 1799 and the following day, troops led by Bonaparte seized control. They dispersed the legislative councils, leaving a rump legislature to name Bonaparte, Sieyès, although Sieyès expected to dominate the new regime, the Consulate, he was outmaneuvered by Bonaparte, who drafted the Constitution of the Year VIII and secured his own election as First Consul. He thus became the most powerful person in France, a power that was increased by the Constitution of the Year X, the Battle of Marengo inaugurated the political idea that was to continue its development until Napoleons Moscow campaign. Napoleon planned only to keep the Duchy of Milan for France, setting aside Austria, the Peace of Amiens, which cost him control of Egypt, was a temporary truce. He gradually extended his authority in Italy by annexing the Piedmont and by acquiring Genoa, Parma, Tuscany and Naples, then he laid siege to the Roman state and initiated the Concordat of 1801 to control the material claims of the pope. Napoleon would have ruling elites from a fusion of the new bourgeoisie, on 12 May 1802, the French Tribunat voted unanimously, with exception of Carnot, in favour of the Life Consulship for the leader of France. This action was confirmed by the Corps Législatif, a general plebiscite followed thereafter resulting in 3,653,600 votes aye and 8,272 votes nay. On 2 August 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed Consul for life, pro-revolutionary sentiment swept through Germany aided by the Recess of 1803, which brought Bavaria, Württemberg and Baden to Frances side. The memories of imperial Rome were for a time, after Julius Caesar and Charlemagne. The Treaty of Pressburg, signed on 26 December 1805, did little other than create a more unified Germany to threaten France. On the other hand, Napoleons creation of the Kingdom of Italy, the occupation of Ancona, to create satellite states, Napoleon installed his relatives as rulers of many European states. The Bonapartes began to marry into old European monarchies, gaining sovereignty over many nations, in addition to the vassal titles, Napoleons closest relatives were also granted the title of French Prince and formed the Imperial House of France. Met with opposition, Napoleon would not tolerate any neutral power, Prussia had been offered the territory of Hanover to stay out of the Third Coalition. With the diplomatic situation changing, Napoleon offered Great Britain the province as part of a peace proposal and this, combined with growing tensions in Germany over French hegemony, Prussia responded by forming an alliance with Russia and sending troops into Bavaria on 1 October 1806. In this War of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon destroyed the armies of Frederick William at Jena-Auerstedt, the Eylau and the Friedland against the Russians finally ruined Frederick the Greats formerly mighty kingdom, obliging Russia and Prussia to make peace with France at Tilsit. The Treaties of Tilsit ended the war between Russia and the French Empire and began an alliance between the two empires that held power of much of the rest of Europe, the two empires secretly agreed to aid each other in disputes

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The Battle of Austerlitz
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Flag
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The Arc de Triomphe, ordered by Napoleon in honour of his Grande Armée, is one of the several landmarks whose construction was started in Paris during the First French Empire.
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Napoleon reviews the Imperial Guard before the Battle of Jena, 1806

112.
Napoleon
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Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, one of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. Napoleons political and cultural legacy has ensured his status as one of the most celebrated and he was born Napoleone di Buonaparte in Corsica to a relatively modest family from the minor nobility. When the Revolution broke out in 1789, Napoleon was serving as an officer in the French army. Seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution, he rose through the ranks of the military. The Directory eventually gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed a revolt against the government from royalist insurgents, in 1798, he led a military expedition to Egypt that served as a springboard to political power. He engineered a coup in November 1799 and became First Consul of the Republic and his ambition and public approval inspired him to go further, and in 1804 he became the first Emperor of the French. Intractable differences with the British meant that the French were facing a Third Coalition by 1805, in 1806, the Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became worried about growing French influence on the continent. Napoleon quickly defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, then marched the Grand Army deep into Eastern Europe, France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia and declared his brother Joseph the King of Spain in 1808. The Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support, the Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, and ended in victory for the Allies. The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia, unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System and enticed Napoleon into another war. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse of the Grand Army, the destruction of Russian cities, in 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France. A lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, the Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power, however, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again. The Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June, the British exiled him to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died six years later at the age of 51

113.
Louis XVIII of France
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Louis XVIII, known as The Desired, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France from 1814 to 1824 except for a period in 1815 known as the Hundred Days. Until his accession to the throne of France, Louis held the title of Count of Provence as brother of King Louis XVI, on 21 September 1792, the National Convention abolished the monarchy and deposed King Louis XVI, who was later executed by guillotine. When the young Louis XVII, Louis XVIs son, died in prison in June 1795, during the French Revolution and Napoleonic era, Louis XVIII lived in exile in Prussia, the United Kingdom and Russia. When the Sixth Coalition finally defeated Napoleon in 1814, Louis was placed in what he, Napoleon escaped from his exile in Elba, however, and restored his French Empire. Louis XVIII fled and a Seventh Coalition declared war on the French Empire, defeated Napoleon, Louis XVIII ruled as king for slightly less than a decade. The Bourbon Restoration regime was a constitutional monarchy, as a constitutional monarch, Louis XVIIIs royal prerogative was reduced substantially by the Charter of 1814, Frances new constitution. Louis had no children, therefore, upon his death, the passed to his brother, Charles. Louis XVIII was the last French monarch to die while reigning, as his successor Charles X abdicated and both Louis Philippe I and Napoléon III were deposed. Louis Stanislas Xavier, styled Count of Provence from birth, was born on 17 November 1755 in the Palace of Versailles, the son of Louis, Dauphin of France and he was the grandson of the reigning King Louis XV. As a son of the Dauphin he was a Fils de France, Louis Stanislas was christened Louis Stanislas Xavier six months after his birth in accordance with Bourbon family tradition, being nameless before his baptism. By this act, he also a Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit. The former died in 1761, leaving Louis Auguste as heir to their father until the Dauphins own premature death in 1765, the two deaths elevated Louis Stanislas to second in the line of succession, while Louis Auguste acquired the title Dauphin. Louis Stanislas found comfort in his governess, Madame de Marsan, Governess of the Children of France, as he was her favourite among his siblings. Louis Stanislas was taken away from his governess when he turned seven, Antoine de Quélen de Stuer de Caussade, Duke of La Vauguyon, a friend of his father, was named his governor. Louis Stanislas was an intelligent boy, excelling in classics and his education was of the same quality and consistency as that of his older brother, Louis Auguste, despite the fact that Louis Auguste was heir and Louis Stanislas was not. Louis Stanislas education was religious in nature, several of his teachers were men of the cloth. La Vauguyon drilled into young Louis Stanislas and his brothers the way he thought princes should know how to withdraw themselves, to like to work, and to know how to reason correctly. In the same month his household was founded, Louis was granted titles by his grandfather, Louis XV, Duke of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Perche

114.
Henri, Count of Chambord
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Henri of Artois, Count of Chambord was disputedly King of France from 2 to 9 August 1830 as Henri V, although he was never officially proclaimed as such. Afterwards, he was the Legitimist pretender to the throne of France from 1844 to 1883, as the grandson of the King Charles X of France, Henri was a Petit-Fils de France. He also was the last legitimate descendant in the line of Louis XV of France. Henri was born on 29 September 1820, in the Pavillon de Marsan and his father, the duc de Berry, had been assassinated seven months before his birth. At birth, Henri was given the title of duc de Bordeaux, because of his posthumous birth when the senior line of the House of Bourbon appeared about to become extinct, he was given the name Dieudonné. Royalists called him the miracle child, Charles X urged his cousin Louis Philippe of Orléans, as Lieutenant général du royaume, to proclaim Henri as Henri V, King of France, but Louis Philippe ignored him. Henri and his family left France and went into exile on 16 August 1830, while some French monarchists recognized him as their sovereign, others disputed the validity of the abdications of his grandfather and of his uncle. Still others recognised the July Monarchy of Louis Philippe, with the death of his grandfather in 1836, and of his uncle in 1844, Henri became the genealogically senior claimant to the French throne. His supporters were called Legitimists to distinguish them from the Orléanists, in November 1846, the comte de Chambord married his second cousin Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, daughter of Duke Francis IV of Modena and Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy. Her maternal grandparents were Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia and Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Henri was then pretender for both Legitimists and Orléanists, and the restoration of monarchy in France seemed a close possibility. However, Henri insisted that he would accept the crown only on condition that France abandon its tricolour flag and he rejected a compromise, whereby the fleur-de-lys would be the new kings personal standard, and the tricolour would remain the national flag. A temporary Third Republic was established, to wait for Henris death, but by the time this occurred in 1883, public opinion had swung behind the Republic as the form of government which, in the words of the former President Adolphe Thiers, divides us least. Thus, Henri could be hailed by republicans such as Georges Clemenceau as the French Washington — the one man without whom the Republic could not have been founded. Henri died on 24 August 1883 at his residence in Frohsdorf, Austria and he was buried in his grandfather Charles Xs crypt in the church of the Franciscan Kostanjevica Monastery in Gorizia, then Austria, now in Slovenian city of Nova Gorica. His personal property, including the château de Chambord, was left to his nephew, Robert I, Henris death left the Legitimist line of succession distinctly confused. On one hand, Henri himself had accepted that the head of the Maison de France would be the head of the Orléans line, thus these Legitimists settled on Juan, Count of Montizón, the Carlist pretender to the Spanish throne, as their claimant to the French crown. List of shortest-reigning monarchs Brown, Marvin Luther, the Comte de Chambord, The Third Republics Uncompromising King. Henri, comte de Chambord, Journal, Carnets inédits, the Death of the comte de Chambord, British Medical Journal 2, no

Henri, Count of Chambord
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Later portrait by Adeodata Malatesta
Henri, Count of Chambord
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The young Prince Henri inspecting the royal guard at Rambouillet on 2 August 1830.
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Plaque, at the château de Chambord, of the 5 July 1871 declaration, known as déclaration du drapeau blanc, by Henri, comte de Chambord (Henri V).
Henri, Count of Chambord
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The Duchess of Berry and her children by François Gérard, 1822

115.
Louis Philippe I
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Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 as the leader of the Orléanist party. He spent 21 years in exile after he left France in 1793 and he was proclaimed king in 1830 after his cousin Charles X was forced to abdicate in the wake of the events of the July Revolution of that year. His government, known as the July Monarchy, was dominated by members of a wealthy French elite and he followed conservative policies, especially under the influence of the French statesman François Guizot during the period 1840–48. He also promoted friendship with Britain and sponsored colonial expansion, notably the conquest of Algeria and his popularity faded as economic conditions in France deteriorated in 1847, and he was forced to abdicate after the outbreak of the French Revolution of 1848. He lived out his life in exile in Great Britain, Louis Philippe was born in the Palais Royal, the residence of the Orléans family in Paris, to Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, and Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a Prince of the Blood and his mother was an extremely wealthy heiress who was descended from Louis XIV of France through a legitimized line. Louis Philippe was the eldest of three sons and a daughter, a family that was to have erratic fortunes from the beginning of the French Revolution to the Bourbon Restoration. Louis Philippes father was exiled from the court, and the Orléans confined themselves to studies of the literature. Louis Philippe was tutored by the Countess of Genlis, beginning in 1782 and she instilled in him a fondness for liberal thought, it is probably during this period that Louis Philippe picked up his slightly Voltairean brand of Catholicism. When Louis Philippes grandfather died in 1785, his father succeeded him as Duke of Orléans, from October 1788 to October 1789, the Palais Royal was a meeting-place for the revolutionaries. Louis Philippe grew up in a period that changed Europe as a whole and, following his fathers support for the Revolution. In his diary, he reports that he took the initiative to join the Jacobin Club. In June 1791, Louis Philippe got his first opportunity to become involved in the affairs of France, in 1785, he had been given the hereditary appointment of Colonel of the 14th Regiment of Dragoons. With war on the horizon in 1791, all proprietary colonels were ordered to join their regiments, Louis Philippe showed himself to be a model officer, and he demonstrated his personal bravery in two famous instances. The young colonel broke through the crowd and extricated the two priests, who then fled, at a river crossing on the same day, another crowd threatened to harm the priests. Louis Philippe put himself between a peasant armed with a carbine and the priests, saving their lives, the next day, Louis Philippe dove into a river to save a drowning local engineer. For this action, he received a crown from the local municipality. His regiment was moved north to Flanders at the end of 1791 after the Declaration of Pillnitz, Louis Philippe served under his fathers crony, the Duke of Biron, along with several officers who later gained distinction in Napoleons empire and afterwards

116.
Napoleon III
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Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the only President of the French Second Republic and, as Napoleon III, the Emperor of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I and he was the first President of France to be elected by a direct popular vote. He remains the longest-serving French head of state since the French Revolution, during the first years of the Empire, Napoleons government imposed censorship and harsh repressive measures against his opponents. Some six thousand were imprisoned or sent to penal colonies until 1859, thousands more went into voluntary exile abroad, including Victor Hugo. From 1862 onwards, he relaxed government censorship, and his came to be known as the Liberal Empire. Many of his opponents returned to France and became members of the National Assembly, Napoleon III is best known today for his grand reconstruction of Paris, carried out by his prefect of the Seine, Baron Haussmann. He launched similar public works projects in Marseille, Lyon, Napoleon III modernized the French banking system, greatly expanded and consolidated the French railway system, and made the French merchant marine the second largest in the world. He promoted the building of the Suez Canal and established modern agriculture, Napoleon III negotiated the 1860 Cobden–Chevalier free trade agreement with Britain and similar agreements with Frances other European trading partners. Social reforms included giving French workers the right to strike and the right to organize, womens education greatly expanded, as did the list of required subjects in public schools. In foreign policy, Napoleon III aimed to reassert French influence in Europe and he was a supporter of popular sovereignty and of nationalism. In Europe, he allied with Britain and defeated Russia in the Crimean War and his regime assisted Italian unification and, in doing so, annexed Savoy and the County of Nice to France, at the same time, his forces defended the Papal States against annexation by Italy. Napoleon doubled the area of the French overseas empire in Asia, the Pacific, on the other hand, his armys intervention in Mexico which aimed to create a Second Mexican Empire under French protection ended in failure. Beginning in 1866, Napoleon had to face the power of Prussia. In July 1870, Napoleon entered the Franco-Prussian War without allies, the French army was rapidly defeated and Napoleon III was captured at the Battle of Sedan. The French Third Republic was proclaimed in Paris, and Napoleon went into exile in England, charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, later known as Louis Napoleon and then Napoleon III, was born in Paris on the night of 20–21 April 1808. His presumed father was Louis Bonaparte, the brother of Napoleon Bonaparte. His mother was Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter by the first marriage of Napoleons wife Joséphine de Beauharnais, as empress, Joséphine proposed the marriage as a way to produce an heir for the Emperor, who agreed, as Joséphine was by then infertile. Louis married Hortense when he was twenty-four and she was nineteen and they had a difficult relationship, and only lived together for brief periods

Napoleon III
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Napoleon III
Napoleon III
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Louis Bonaparte (1778–1846), the younger brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, the King of Holland, and father of Napoleon III.
Napoleon III
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Hortense de Beauharnais (1783–1837), the mother of Napoleon III, in 1808, the year Napoleon III was born.
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The lakeside house at Arenenberg, Switzerland, where Napoleon III spent much of his youth and exile.

117.
Prehistory of France
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Stone tools indicate that early humans were present in France at least 1.57 million years ago. Stone tools discovered at Lézignan-la-Cèbe in 2009 indicate that humans were present in France at least 1.57 million years ago. France includes Olduwan and Acheulean sites from early or non-modern Hominini species, most notably Homo erectus, tooth Arago 149 -560,000 years. Tautavel Man, is a subspecies of the hominid Homo erectus. The Grotte du Vallonnet near Menton contained simple stone tools dating to 1 million to 1.05 million years BC, excavations at Terra Amata found traces of the earliest known domestication of fire in Europe, from 400,000 BC. Importantly, recent findings suggest that Neandertals and modern humans may have interbred, evidence of cannibalism among Neanderthals found in Neanderthal settlements Moula-Guercy and Les Pradelles. When they arrived in Europe, they brought with them sculpture, engraving, painting, body ornamentation, music, some of the oldest works of art in the world, such as the cave paintings at Lascaux in southern France, are datable to shortly after this migration. European Palaeolithic cultures are divided into several subgroups, Aurignacian – responsible for Venus figurines. Périgordian – use of term is debated. Gravettian – responsible for Venus figurines, cave paintings at the Cosquer Cave, solutrean Magdalenian – thought to be responsible for the cave paintings at Pech Merle, Lascaux, the Trois-Frères cave and the Rouffignac Cave also known as The Cave of the hundred mammoths. It possesses the most extensive system of the Périgord in France with more than 8 kilometers of underground passageways. Experts sometimes refer to the Franco-Cantabrian region to describe densely populated region of southern France. From the Paleolithic to the Mesolithic, the Magdalenian culture evolved, the Azilian culture was followed by the Sauveterrian in Southern France and Switzerland, the Tardenoisian in Northern France, the Maglemosian in Northern Europe. Archeologists are unsure whether Western Europe saw a Mesolithic immigration, if Gravettian or Epipaleolithic immigrants to Europe were indeed Indo-European, then populations speaking non-Indo-European languages are obvious candidates for previous Paleolithic remnants. The Vascons of the Pyrenees present the strongest case, since their language is related to other in the world. The disappearance of the Doggerland affected the surrounding territories, the Doggerland population had to go as far as northern France and eastern Ireland to escape from the floods. The Neolithic period lasted in northern Europe for approximately 3,000 years, there was an expansion of peoples from southwest Asia into Europe, this diffusion across Europe, from the Aegean to Britain, took about 2,500 years. Within the framework of this theory, which remains the most commonly accepted model of Indo-European expansion

118.
Gaul
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It covered an area of 190,800 sq mi. According to the testimony of Julius Caesar, Gaul was divided into three parts, Gallia Celtica, Belgica and Aquitania, during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, Gaul fell under Roman rule, Gallia Cisalpina was conquered in 203 BC and Gallia Narbonensis in 123 BC. Gaul was invaded after 120 BC by the Cimbri and the Teutons, Gallia remains a name of France in modern Greek and modern Latin. The Greek and Latin names Galatia, and Gallia are ultimately derived from a Celtic ethnic term or clan Gal-to-. Galli of Gallia Celtica were reported to refer to themselves as Celtae by Caesar. Hellenistic folk etymology connected the name of the Galatians to the supposedly milk-white skin of the Gauls, modern researchers say it is related to Welsh gallu, Cornish galloes, capacity, power, thus meaning powerful people. The English Gaul is from French Gaule and is unrelated to Latin Gallia, as adjectives, English has the two variants, Gaulish and Gallic. The two adjectives are used synonymously, as pertaining to Gaul or the Gauls, although the Celtic language or languages spoken in Gaul is predominantly known as Gaulish. The Germanic w- is regularly rendered as gu- / g- in French, also unrelated in spite of superficial similarity is the name Gael. The Irish word gall did originally mean a Gaul, i. e. an inhabitant of Gaul, but its meaning was later widened to foreigner, to describe the Vikings, and later still the Normans. The dichotomic words gael and gall are sometimes used together for contrast, by 500 BC, there is strong Hallstatt influence throughout most of France. By the late 5th century BC, La Tène influence spreads rapidly across the territory of Gaul. The La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age in France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, southwest Germany, Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, farther north extended the contemporary pre-Roman Iron Age culture of northern Germany and Scandinavia. By the 2nd century BC, the Romans described Gallia Transalpina as distinct from Gallia Cisalpina, while some scholars believe the Belgae south of the Somme were a mixture of Celtic and Germanic elements, their ethnic affiliations have not been definitively resolved. One of the reasons is political interference upon the French historical interpretation during the 19th century, in addition to the Gauls, there were other peoples living in Gaul, such as the Greeks and Phoenicians who had established outposts such as Massilia along the Mediterranean coast. Also, along the southeastern Mediterranean coast, the Ligures had merged with the Celts to form a Celto-Ligurian culture, the prosperity of Mediterranean Gaul encouraged Rome to respond to pleas for assistance from the inhabitants of Massilia, who were under attack by a coalition of Ligures and Gauls. The Romans intervened in Gaul in 154 BC and again in 125 BC, whereas on the first occasion they came and went, on the second they stayed. Massilia was allowed to keep its lands, but Rome added to its territories the lands of the conquered tribes. The direct result of conquests was that by now, Rome controlled an area extending from the Pyrenees to the lower Rhône river

119.
Kingdom of the Visigoths
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The Visigothic Kingdom or Kingdom of the Visigoths was a kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. The Kingdom maintained independence from the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, the kingdom of the 6th and 7th centuries is sometimes called the regnum Toletanum after the new capital of Toledo. The ethnic distinction between the indigenous Hispano-Roman population and the Visigoths had largely disappeared by this time, Liber Iudiciorum abolished the old tradition of having different laws for Romans and for Visigoths. Most of the Visigothic Kingdom was conquered by Arab Umayyad troops from North Africa in 711 AD and these gave birth to the medieval Kingdom of Asturias when a local landlord called Pelayo, most likely of Gothic origin, was elected Princeps by the Astures. The Visigoths also developed the influential law code known in Western Europe as the Liber Iudiciorum. From 407 to 409 AD, the Germanic Vandals, with the allied Alans and Suebi, crossed the frozen Rhine, for their part, the Visigoths under Alaric famously sacked Rome in 410, capturing Galla Placidia, the sister of Western Roman emperor Honorius. After he married Placidia, the Emperor Honorius enlisted him to provide Visigothic assistance in regaining nominal Roman control of Hispania from the Vandals, Alans and Suevi. In 418, Honorius rewarded his Visigothic federates under King Wallia by giving land in the Garonne valley of Gallia Aquitania on which to settle. This probably took place under hospitalitas, the rules for billeting army soldiers, the Visigoths with their capital at Toulouse, remained de facto independent, and soon began expanding into Roman territory at the expense of the feeble Western empire. Under Theodoric I, the Visigoths attacked Arles and Narbonne, but were checked by Flavius Aetius using Hunnic mercenaries, by 451, the situation had reversed and the Huns had invaded Gaul, now Theodoric fought under Aetius against Attila the Hun in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. Attila was driven back, but Theodoric was killed in the battle, the Vandals completed the conquest of North Africa when they took Carthage on October 19,439 and the Suevi had taken most of Hispania. The Roman emperor Avitus now sent the Visigoths into Hispania, Theodoric II invaded and defeated the King of the Suevi, Rechiarius, at the battle on the river Orbigo in 456 near Asturica Augusta and then sacked Bracara Augusta the Suevi capital. The Goths sacked the cities in Spain quite brutally, they massacred a portion of the population and even attacked some holy places, theoderic took control over Hispania Baetica, Carthaginiensis and southern Lusitania. In 461, the Goths received the city of Narbonne from the emperor Libius Severus in exchange for their support. This led to a revolt by the army and by Gallo-Romans under Aegidius, as a result, Romans under Severus and the Visigoths fought other Roman troops, in 466, Euric, who was the youngest son of Theodoric I, came to the Visigothic throne. He is infamous for murdering his elder brother Theodoric II who had become king by murdering his elder brother Thorismund. Under Euric, the Visigoths began expanding in Gaul and consolidating their presence in the Iberian peninsula, Euric fought a series of wars with the Suebi who retained some influence in Lusitania, and brought most of this region under Visigothic power, taking Emerita Augusta in 469. Euric also attacked the Western Roman Empire, capturing Hispania Tarraconensis in 472, by 476, he had extended his rule to the Rhone and the Loire rivers which comprised most of southern Gaul

Kingdom of the Visigoths
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Theodoric I by Fabrizio Castello (1560-1617).
Kingdom of the Visigoths
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Greatest extent of the Visigothic Kingdom, c. 500 (shown in orange, territory lost after Vouille shown in light orange).
Kingdom of the Visigoths
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Clovis I fights the Visigoths
Kingdom of the Visigoths
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Visigothic pseudo-imperial gold tremissis in the name of emperor Justinian I, 6th century: The Christian cross on the breast defines the Visigothic attribution. (British Museum)

120.
Francia
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The kingdom was founded by Clovis I, crowned first King of the Franks in 496. The tradition of dividing patrimonies among brothers meant that the Frankish realm was ruled, nominally, even so, sometimes the term was used as well to encompass Neustria north of the Loire and west of the Seine. Most Frankish Kings were buried in the Basilica of Saint Denis, modern France is still named Francia in Spanish and Italian. The Franks emerged in the 3rd century as a confederation of smaller Germanic tribes, such as the Sicambri, Bructeri, Ampsivarii, Chamavi and Chattuarii, in the area north and east of the Rhine. Some of these peoples, such as the Sicambri and Salians, already had lands in the Roman Empire, in 357 the Salian king entered the Roman Empire and made a permanent foothold there by a treaty granted by Julian the Apostate, who forced back the Chamavi to Hamaland. As Frankish territory expanded, the meaning of Francia expanded with it, after the fall of Arbogastes, his son Arigius succeeded in establishing a hereditary countship at Trier and after the fall of the usurper Constantine III some Franks supported the usurper Jovinus. Jovinus was dead by 413, but the Romans found it difficult to manage the Franks within their borders. The Frankish king Theudemer was executed by the sword, in c, around 428 the Salian king Chlodio, whose kingdom included Toxandria and the civitatus Tungrorum, launched an attack on Roman territory and extended his realm as far as Camaracum and the Somme. The kingdom of Chlodio changed the borders and the meaning of the word Francia permanently, Francia was no longer barbaricum trans Rhenum, but a landed political power on both sides of the river, deeply involved in Roman politics. Chlodios family, the Merovingians, extended Francia even further south, the core territory of the Frankish kingdom later came to be known as Austrasia. Chlodios successors are obscure figures, but what can be certain is that Childeric I, possibly his grandson, Clovis converted to Christianity and put himself on good terms with the powerful Church and with his Gallo-Roman subjects. In a thirty-year reign Clovis defeated the Roman general Syagrius and conquered the Roman exclave of Soissons, defeated the Alemanni, Clovis defeated the Visigoths and conquered their entire kingdom with its capital at Toulouse, and conquered the Bretons and made them vassals of Francia. He conquered most or all of the neighbouring Frankish tribes along the Rhine, by the end of his life, Clovis ruled all of Gaul save the Gothic province of Septimania and the Burgundian kingdom in the southeast. The Merovingians were a hereditary monarchy, the Frankish kings adhered to the practice of partible inheritance, dividing their lands among their sons. Cloviss sons made their capitals near the Frankish heartland in northeastern Gaul, Theuderic I made his capital at Reims, Chlodomer at Orléans, Childebert I at Paris, and Chlothar I at Soissons. During their reigns, the Thuringii, Burgundes, and Saxons and Frisians were incorporated into the Frankish kingdom, the fraternal kings showed only intermittent signs of friendship and were often in rivalry. Theuderic died in 534, but his adult son Theudebert I was capable of defending his inheritance, which formed the largest of the Frankish subkingdoms and the kernel of the later kingdom of Austrasia. Theudebert interfered in the Gothic War on the side of the Gepids and Lombards against the Ostrogoths, receiving the provinces of Rhaetia, Noricum, and part of Venetia

Francia
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The partition of the Frankish kingdom among the four sons of Clovis with Clotilde presiding, Grandes Chroniques de Saint-Denis (Bibliothèque municipale de Toulouse).
Francia
Francia
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The political divisions of Gaul at the inception of Clovis 's career (481). Note that only the Burgundian kingdom and the province of Septimania remained unconquered at his death (511).
Francia
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The division of Francia on Clovis 's death (511). The kingdoms were not geographic unities because they were formed in an attempt to create equal-sized fiscs. The discrepancy in size reveals the concentration of Roman fiscal lands.

121.
West Francia
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West Francia extended further south than modern France, but it did not extend as far east. In Brittany and Catalonia the authority of the West Frankish king was barely felt, West Frankish kings were elected by the secular and ecclesiastic magnates, and for the half-century between 888 and 936 they chose alternatingly from the Carolingian and Robertian houses. By this time the power of king became weaker and more nominal, the Robertians, after becoming counts of Paris and dukes of France became kings themselves and established the Capetian dynasty. In August 843, after three years of war following the death of Louis the Pious on June 20,840. The youngest, Charles the Bald, received the western Francia, the contemporary West Frankish Annales Bertiniani describes Charles arriving at Verdun, where the distribution of portions took place. After describing the portions of his brothers, Lothair the Emperor and Louis the German, the Annales Fuldenses of East Francia describe Charles as holding the western part after the kingdom was divided in three. Charles the Bald was at war with Pippin II from the start of his reign in 840, accordingly, in June 845, after several military defeats, Charles signed the Treaty of Benoît-sur-Loire and recognised his nephews rule. This agreement lasted until March 25,848, when the Aquitainian barons recognised Charles as their king, thereafter Charless armies had the upper hand and by 849 had secured most of Aquitaine. In May, Charles had himself crowned King of the Franks, the coronation was officiated by Archbishop Wenilo of Sens, and included the first instance of royal unction in West Francia. The idea of anointing Charles may be owed to Archbishop Hincmar of Reims, by the time of the Synod of Quierzy, Hincmar was claiming that Charles was anointed to the entire West Frankish kingdom. With the Treaty of Mersen in 870 the western part of Lotharingia was added to West Francia, in 875 Charles the Bald was crowned Emperor of Rome. The last record in the Annales Bertiniani dates to 882, the next set of original annals from the West Frankish kingdom are those of Flodoard, who began his account with the year 919. After the death of Charless grandson, Carloman II, on December 12,884 and he was probably crowned King in Gaul on 20 May 885 at Grand. His reign was the time after the death of Louis the Pious that all of Francia would be re-united under one ruler. In his capacity as king of West Francia, he seems to have granted the title and perhaps regalia to the semi-independent ruler of Brittany. His handling of the Viking siege of Paris in 885–86 greatly reduced his prestige, in November 887 his nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia revolted and assumed the title as King of the East Franks. Charles retired and soon died on January 13,888, in Aquitaine, Duke Ranulf II may have had himself recognised as king, but he only lived another two years. Although Aquitaine did not become a kingdom, it was largely outside the control of the West Frankish kings

122.
France in the Middle Ages
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From the 13th century on, the state slowly regained control of a number of these lost powers. The crises of the 13th and 14th centuries led to the convening of an assembly, the Estates General. From the Middle Ages onward, French rulers believed their kingdoms had natural borders, the Pyrenees, the Alps and this was used as a pretext for an aggressive policy and repeated invasions. The belief, however, had little basis in reality for not all of territories were part of the Kingdom. France had important rivers that were used as waterways, the Loire, the Rhone and these rivers were settled earlier than the rest and important cities were founded on their banks but they were separated by large forests, marsh, and other rough terrains. Before the Romans conquered Gaul, the Gauls lived in villages organised in wider tribes, the Romans referred to the smallest of these groups as pagi and the widest ones as civitates. These pagi and civitates were often taken as a basis for the imperial administration and these religious provinces would survive until the French revolution. Discussion of the size of France in the Middle Ages is complicated by distinctions between lands personally held by the king and lands held in homage by another lord, the domaine royal of the Capetians was limited to the regions around Paris, Bourges and Sens. The great majority of French territory was part of Aquitaine, the Duchy of Normandy, the Duchy of Brittany, the Comté of Champagne, the Duchy of Burgundy, and other territories. Philip II Augustus undertook a massive French expansion in the 13th century, only in the 15th century would Charles VII and Louis XI gain control of most of modern-day France. The weather in France and Europe in the Middle Ages was significantly milder than during the preceding or following it. Historians refer to this as the Medieval Warm Period, lasting from about the 10th century to about the 14th century, part of the French population growth in this period is directly linked to this temperate weather and its effect on crops and livestock. At the end of the Middle Ages, France was the most populous region in Europe—having overtaken Spain, in the 14th century, before the arrival of the Black Death, the total population of the area covered by modern-day France has been estimated at around 17 million. The population of Paris is controversial, josiah Russell argued for about 80,000 in the early 14th century, although he noted that some other scholars suggested 200,000. The higher count would make it by far the largest city in western Europe, the Black Death killed an estimated one-third of the population from its appearance in 1348. The concurrent Hundred Years War slowed recovery and it would be the mid-16th century before the population recovered to mid-fourteenth century levels. The vast majority of the population spoke a variety of vernacular languages derived from vulgar Latin. Modern linguists typically add a group within France around Lyon

France in the Middle Ages
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A view of the remains of the Abbey of Cluny, a Benedictine monastery, was the centre of monastic life revival in the Middle Ages and marked an important step in the cultural rebirth following the Dark Ages.
France in the Middle Ages
France in the Middle Ages
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Godefroy de Bouillon, a French knight, leader of the First Crusade and founder of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
France in the Middle Ages
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Philip II victorious at Bouvines thus annexing Normandy and Anjou into his royal domains. This battle involved a complex set of alliances from three important states, the Kingdoms of France and England and the Holy Roman Empire.

123.
Early modern France
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The Kingdom of France in the early modern period, from the Renaissance to the Revolution, was a monarchy ruled by the House of Bourbon. This corresponds to the so-called Ancien Régime, the territory of France during this period increased until it included essentially the extent of the modern country, and it also included the territories of the first French colonial empire overseas. In the mid 15th century, France was significantly smaller than it is today, in addition, certain provinces within France were ostensibly personal fiefdoms of noble families. The late 15th, 16th and 17th centuries would see France undergo a massive territorial expansion, France also embarked on exploration, colonisation, and mercantile exchanges with the Americas, India, the Indian Ocean, the Far East, and a few African trading posts. The administrative and legal system in France in this period is called the Ancien Régime. The Black Death had killed an estimated one-third of the population of France from its appearance in 1348, the concurrent Hundred Years War slowed recovery. It would be the early 16th century before the population recovered to mid-14th century levels and these demographic changes also led to a massive increase in urban populations, although on the whole France remained a profoundly rural country. Paris was one of the most populated cities in Europe, other major French cities include Lyon, Rouen, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Marseille. These centuries saw several periods of epidemics and crop failures due to wars, between 1693 and 1694, France lost 6% of its population. In the extremely harsh winter of 1709, France lost 3. 5% of its population, in the past 300 years, no period has been so proportionally deadly for the French, both World Wars included. Linguistically, the differences in France were extreme, before the Renaissance, the language spoken in the north of France was a collection of different dialects called Oïl languages whereas the written and administrative language remained Latin. Nevertheless, in 1790, only half of the spoke or understood standard French. The southern half of the continued to speak Occitan languages, and other inhabitants spoke Breton, Catalan, Basque, Dutch. In the north of France, regional dialects of the various langues doïl continued to be spoken in rural communities, during the French revolution, the teaching of French was promoted in all the schools. The French used would be that of the system, which differed from the French spoken in the courts of France before the revolution. Like the orators during the French revolution, the pronunciation of every syllable would become the new language, France would not become a linguistically unified country until the end of the 19th century. The Peace of Etaples marks, for some, the beginning of the modern period in France. The invasion of Italy by Charles VIII in 1494 began 62 years of war with the Habsburgs, in 1445, the first steps were made towards fashioning a regular army out of the poorly disciplined mercenary bands that French kings traditionally relied on

Early modern France
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Francis I by Jean Clouet
Early modern France
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France on the eve of the modern era (1477). The red line denotes the boundary of the French kingdom, while the light blue the royal domain.
Early modern France
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Henry IV of France by Frans Pourbus the younger.
Early modern France
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Louis XIV King of France and of Navarre By Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701)

124.
French Revolution
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Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history, the causes of the French Revolution are complex and are still debated among historians. Following the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War, the French government was deeply in debt, Years of bad harvests leading up to the Revolution also inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy. Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates-General in May 1789, a central event of the first stage, in August 1789, was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime. The next few years featured political struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the intent on thwarting major reforms. The Republic was proclaimed in September 1792 after the French victory at Valmy, in a momentous event that led to international condemnation, Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. External threats closely shaped the course of the Revolution, internally, popular agitation radicalised the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins. Large numbers of civilians were executed by revolutionary tribunals during the Terror, after the Thermidorian Reaction, an executive council known as the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795. The rule of the Directory was characterised by suspended elections, debt repudiations, financial instability, persecutions against the Catholic clergy, dogged by charges of corruption, the Directory collapsed in a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution, almost all future revolutionary movements looked back to the Revolution as their predecessor. The values and institutions of the Revolution dominate French politics to this day, the French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity. Globally, the Revolution accelerated the rise of republics and democracies and it became the focal point for the development of all modern political ideologies, leading to the spread of liberalism, radicalism, nationalism, socialism, feminism, and secularism, among many others. The Revolution also witnessed the birth of total war by organising the resources of France, historians have pointed to many events and factors within the Ancien Régime that led to the Revolution. Over the course of the 18th century, there emerged what the philosopher Jürgen Habermas called the idea of the sphere in France. A perfect example would be the Palace of Versailles which was meant to overwhelm the senses of the visitor and convince one of the greatness of the French state and Louis XIV. Starting in the early 18th century saw the appearance of the sphere which was critical in that both sides were active. In France, the emergence of the public sphere outside of the control of the saw the shift from Versailles to Paris as the cultural capital of France. In the 1750s, during the querelle des bouffons over the question of the quality of Italian vs, in 1782, Louis-Sébastien Mercier wrote, The word court no longer inspires awe amongst us as in the time of Louis XIV

French Revolution
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The August Insurrection in 1792 precipitated the last days of the monarchy.
French Revolution
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The French government faced a fiscal crisis in the 1780s, and King Louis XVI was blamed for mishandling these affairs.
French Revolution
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Caricature of the Third Estate carrying the First Estate (clergy) and the Second Estate (nobility) on its back.
French Revolution
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The meeting of the Estates General on 5 May 1789 at Versailles.

125.
Absolute monarchy in France
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Absolute monarchy in France slowly emerged in the 16th century and became firmly established during the 17th century. Absolute monarchy is a variation of the form of monarchy in which all governmental power. In France, Louis XIV was the most famous exemplar of absolute monarchy, the 16th century was strongly influenced by religious conflicts developing out of the establishment of Lutheranism and permanent wars. However, France’s critical position turned out to be of a meaning for the formation. By the early 9th century, the efficient administration of Charlemagnes Empire was ensured by high-level civil servants, carrying the, then non-hereditary, titles of counts, marquis, dukes, thus was established feudalism in France. Over time, some of the vassals would grow so powerful that they often posed a threat to the king. Since then, French kings had tried to strengthen existing royal powers scattered among their nobles. Philip the Fair, Charles the Wise and Louis the Cunning were instrumental in the transformation of France from a state to a modern country. With his skilful Prime Minister Richelieu, who vowed to make the royal power supreme in France and France supreme in Europe, Louis XIII established Absolute Monarchy in France during his reign. When his son and successor Louis XIV came to power, a period of known as the Fronde occurred in France. This rebellion was driven by the feudal lords and sovereign courts as a reaction to the rise of royal power in France. The rebellion was crushed, however, many obstacles stood in the way of absolutism in France, Nobles had the means to raise private armies, effectively, they were his representatives of government to the people. They collected taxes, posted edicts, and administered justice, the Huguenots, who since the 1598 Edict of Nantes by Henry IV, held the rights to bear arms and to build fortifications in certain locations. This Edict of 1626 was justified as a reform to reduce maintenance costs by removing obsolete fortifications within the borders of France. While a rational economic step in itself, this measure did have the effect of undermining the independence of the aristocracy. Louis XIV reduced the nobles’ power further by requiring them to spend at least some portion of the year as courtiers in residence at the Versailles, at Versailles, the aristocracy were removed from their provincial power centers and came under the surveillance and control of the royal government. Rather than seen as demeaning, the nobles took required membership of the court to be a high honor. Nobles, being granted residence at Versailles, were prepared to give up their former duties as royal representatives outside Paris

Absolute monarchy in France
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Louis XIII in full military regalia by Peter Paul Rubens
Absolute monarchy in France
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Louis XIV King of France and Navarre By Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701)

126.
Free France
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It was set up in London in June 1940 and also organised and supported the Resistance in occupied France. On 27 October 1940, the Empire Defense Council was constituted to organise the rule of the territories in central Africa and it was replaced on 24 September 1941 by the French National Committee. After the reconquest of North Africa, this was in turn merged with de Gaulles rival general Henri Girauds command in Algiers to form the French Committee of National Liberation. Exile officially ended with the capture of Paris by the 2nd Armoured Free French Division and Resistance forces on 25 August 1944, the Free French fought Axis and Vichy regime troops and served on battlefronts everywhere from the Middle East to Indochina and North Africa. The Free French Navy operated as a force to the Royal Navy and, in the North Atlantic. Free French units also served in the Royal Air Force, Soviet Air Force, the French Army of Africa switched allegiance to Free France, and this caused the Axis to occupy Vichy in reaction. On 1 August 1943, LArmée dAfrique was formally united with the Free French Forces to form LArmée française de la Liberation. By mid-1944, the forces of this army numbered more than 400,000, and they participated in the Normandy landings, the Free French government re-established a provisional republic after the liberation, preparing the ground for the Fourth Republic in 1946. Historically, an individual became Free French by enlisting in the military units organised by the CFN or by employment by the arm of the Committee. In many sources, Free French describes any French individual or unit that fought against Axis forces after the June 1940 armistice, postwar, to settle disputes over the Free French heritage, the French government issued an official definition of the term. Under this ministerial instruction of July 1953, only those who served with the Allies after the Franco-German armistice in 1940, between 27 May and 4 June, around 200,000 British soldiers and 140,000 French troops were evacuated from the beaches to safety in England. General Charles de Gaulle was a minister in the French cabinet during the Battle of France, as France was overwhelmed by the stunning German victory, he found himself part of a small group of politicians who argued against a negotiated surrender to Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. That same day, the new French President of the Council, former First World War Marshal Philippe Pétain, De Gaulle briefly travelled to Bordeaux to continue the fight but, realising that Pétain would surrender, he returned to London on 17 June. On 18 June, General de Gaulle spoke to the French people via BBC radio, urging French soldiers, sailors and airmen to join in the fight against the Nazis and she has a great empire behind her. Together with the British Empire, she can form a bloc that controls the seas and she may, like England, draw upon the limitless industrial resources of the United States. In Vichys case those reasons were compounded with ideas of a Révolution nationale about stamping out Frances republican heritage. On 22 June 1940, Marshall Pétain signed an armistice with Germany, followed by a one with Italy on 24 June. After a parliamentary vote on 10 July, Pétain became leader of the newly established authoritarian regime known as Vichy France, despite de Gaulles call to continue the struggle, few French forces, at least initially, pledged their support

127.
Provisional Government of the French Republic
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Its establishment marked the official restoration and re-establishment of a provisional French Republic assuring continuity with the defunct French Third Republic. As the wartime government of France in 1944-1945, its purposes were to handle the aftermath of the occupation of France. Its principal mission beside the war was to prepare the ground for a new order that resulted in the Fourth Republic. It was officially created by the CFLN on 3 June 1944, the day before Charles de Gaulle arrived in London from Algiers on Winston Churchills invitation, the CFLN itself had been created exactly one year earlier through the uniting of de Gaulles and Henri Girauds organisations. Among its foreign policy goals was to secure a French occupation zone in Germany and this was assured through a large military contribution on the western front. The unit under his command, barely above company size when it had captured the Italian fort, had grown into an armoured division. The spearhead of the Free French First Army that had landed in Provence was the I Corps and its leading unit, the French 1st Armoured Division, was the first Western Allied unit to reach the Rhône, the Rhine and the Danube. Along with the acceptance of the Marshall Plan, refused by countries who had fallen under the influence of the USSR, this marked the official beginning of the Cold War in these countries. It started decolonisation by recognising the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Front National was the political front of the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans resistance movement. It also appointed commissioners to fulfill its aims, Vichy loyalists were put on trial by the GPRF in legal purges, and a number were executed for treason, among them Pierre Laval, Vichys prime minister in 1942-44. The Marshal Philippe Pétain, Chief of the French State and Verdun hero, was condemned to death. Thousands of collaborators were executed by local Resistance forces in so-called savage purges. The provisional government considered that the Vichy government had been unconstitutional, all statutes, laws, regulations and decisions by the Vichy government were thus made null and void. Collaborationist paramilitary and political organizations, such as the Milice and the Legionary Order Service, were also disbanded, the right to vote had been granted to women by the CFLN on 21 April 1944, and was confirmed by the GPRF with the 5 October 1944 decree. They went to the polls for the first time in the elections of 29 April 1945. It passed decisions about Social Security, and child benefits, laying the foundations of the state in France. In the dirigist spirit, it created large state-owned companies, for instance by nationalising Renault and founding electricity company EDF, another main objective of the GPRF under de Gaulle leadership was to give a voice to the people by organizing elections which took place on 21 October 1945. Becoming a constituent assembly, the elected parliament was charged with drafting a constitution for a new fourth republic

128.
French Fifth Republic
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The Fifth Republic, Frances current republican system of government, was established by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958. De Gaulle, who was the first president elected under the Fifth Republic in December 1958, believed in a head of state. The Fifth Republic is Frances third-longest political regime, after the hereditary and feudal monarchies of the Ancien Régime, the trigger for the collapse of the French Fourth Republic was the Algiers crisis of 1958. France was still a power, although conflict and revolt had begun the process of decolonization. French West Africa, French Indochina, and French Algeria still sent representatives to the French parliament under systems of limited suffrage in the French Union, Algeria in particular, despite being the colony with the largest French population, saw rising pressure for separation from the Metropole. The situation was complicated by those in Algeria, such as white settlers, the Algerian War was not just a separatist movement but had elements of a civil war. Further complications came when a section of the French Army rebelled, Charles de Gaulle, who had retired from politics a decade before, placed himself in the midst of the crisis, calling on the nation to suspend the government and create a new constitutional system. The Fourth Republic suffered from a lack of consensus, a weak executive. With no party or coalition able to sustain a parliamentary majority, De Gaulle and his supporters proposed a system of strong presidents elected for seven-year terms. The President under the constitution would have executive powers to run the country in consultation with a prime minister whom he would appoint. These plans were approved by more than 80% of those who voted in the referendum of 28 September 1958, the new constitution was signed into law on 4 October 1958. Since each new constitution established a new republic, France moved from the Fourth to the Fifth Republic, the new constitution contained transitional clauses extending the period of rule by decree until the new institutions were operating. René Coty remained President of the Republic until the new president was proclaimed, on 21 December 1958, Charles de Gaulle was elected President of France by an electoral college. The provisional constitutional commission, acting in lieu of the Constitutional Council, the new president began his office on that date, appointing Michel Debré as Prime Minister. The 1958 constitution also replaced the French Union with the French Community,1960 became known as the Year of Africa because of this wave of newly independent states. Algeria became independent on 5 July 1962, the president was initially elected by an electoral college, but in 1962 de Gaulle proposed that the president be directly elected by the citizens, and held a referendum on the change. Although the method and intent of de Gaulle in that referendum were contested by most political groups except for the Gaullists, the Constitutional Council declined to rule on the constitutionality of the referendum. Two major changes occurred in the 1970s regarding constitutional checks and balances, traditionally, France operated according to parliamentary supremacy, no authority was empowered to rule on whether statutes passed by Parliament respected the constitutional rights of the citizens

129.
Administrative divisions of France
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The administrative divisions of France are concerned with the institutional and territorial organization of French territory. There are many divisions, which may have political, electoral. The French republic is divided into 18 regions,13 in metropolitan France and 5 in overseas France, the regions are subdivided into 96 departments. The departments are subdivided into 322 arrondissements, the arrondissements are subdivided into 1,995 cantons. The cantons are subdivided into 36,529 communes, three urban communes are further divided into municipal arrondissements. There are 20 arrondissements of Paris,16 arrondissements of Marseille, the city of Marseilles is also divided into 8 municipal sectors. Each sector is composed with two arrondissements. 4% of the population of metropolitan France living in them, each overseas region is coextensive with an overseas department, again with the same status as departments in metropolitan France. The first four departments were created in 1946 and preceded the four overseas regions. For elections it is divided into 6 electoral districts which differ slightly from the 5 administrative subdivisions, the 5 administrative subdivisions are divided into 48 communes. There also exist some associated communes as in metropolitan France, Saint-Barthélemy is a new overseas collectivity created on February 22,2007. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe department, the commune structure was abolished and Saint-Barthélemy is now one of only three permanently inhabited territories of the French Republic with no commune structure. There are no cantons and arrondissements either, Saint-Martin is also a new overseas collectivity created on February 22,2007. It was also previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe department, the commune structure was abolished and Saint-Martin is now one of only three permanently inhabited territories of the French Republic with no commune structure. There are no cantons and arrondissements either, saint-Pierre and Miquelon is divided into 2 communes with no arrondissements or cantons. These 3 districts are, Uvea, Sigave, and Alo, Uvea is the most populous and is further divided into 3 wards, Hahake, Mua, and Hihifo. Wallis and Futuna is one of only three permanently inhabited territories of the French Republic with no communes and it also has no arrondissements or cantons. 1 overseas territory, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, which have no permanent population, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands are divided into 5 districts,1. Amsterdam Island and Saint Paul Island 4, the Scattered Islands, a collection of six non permanently inhabited islands in the Indian Ocean, Banc du Geyser, Bassas da India, Europa, Juan de Nova, Glorioso, and Tromelin

Administrative divisions of France
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Regions and departments of France.

130.
Elections in France
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Public officials in the legislative and executive branches are either elected by the citizens or appointed by elected officials. Referendums may also be called to consult the French citizenry directly on a particular question, France elects on its national level a head of state – the president – and a legislature The president is elected for a five-year term, directly by the citizens. The National Assembly has 577 members, elected for a term in single seat-constituencies directly by the citizens. The Senate has 348 members, elected for six-year terms, see Government of France for more details about these political structures. In addition, French citizens elect a variety of local governments, France does not have a full-fledged two-party system, that is, a system where, though many political parties may exist, only two parties are relevant to the dynamics of power. See politics of France for more details, Elections are conducted according to rules set in the Constitution of France, organisational laws, and the electoral code. The campaigns end at midnight the Friday before the election, then, on election Sunday, by law, no polls can be published, no electoral publication and broadcasts can be made. The voting stations open at 8 am and close at 6 pm in small towns or at 8 pm in cities and it has been alleged that this discourages voting in these places. For this reason, since the 2000s, elections in French possessions in the Americas, as well as embassies and consulates there, are held on Saturdays as a special exemption. With the exception of senatorial election, for there is an electoral college. For municipal and European elections, citizens aged 18 or older of other European Union countries may decide to vote in France, registration is not compulsory, but the absence of registration precludes the possibility of voting. Currently, all reaching the age of 18 are automatically registered. Citizens may register either in their place of residence or in a place where they have been on the roll of taxpayers for local taxes for at least 5 years, a citizen may not be legally registered in more than one place. Citizens living abroad may register at the responsible for the region in which they live. Only citizens legally registered as voters can run for public office, there are exceptions to the above rules. Convicted criminals may be deprived of their rights, which include the right to vote. In particular, elected officials who have abused public funds may be deprived of the right to run for public office for as long as 10 years. The application of rules in the case of certain politicians has been controversial

131.
Foreign relations of France
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Foreign relations France includes the governments external relations with other countries and international organizations since the end of the Middle Ages. France played the single most important role in European diplomacy and warfare before 1815, in the 19th century it built a colonial empire second only to the British Empire, but was humiliated in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, which marked the rise of Germany to dominance in Europe. France was on the side of the First World War. Since 1945 France has been a member of the United Nations, of NATO. Its main ally since 1945 has been Germany, as a charter member of the United Nations, France holds one of the permanent seats in the Security Council and is a member of most of its specialized and related agencies. France is also a member of the Union for the Mediterranean. Under the long reigns of kings Louis XIV and Louis XV, France was second in size to Russia but first in terms of economic and it fought numerous expensive wars, usually to protect its voice in the selection of monarchs in neighboring countries. A high priority was blocking the growth of power of the Habsburg rivals who controlled Austria, warfare defined the foreign policies of Louis XIV, and his personality shaped his approach. Impelled by a mix of commerce, revenge, and pique, in peacetime he concentrated on preparing for the next war. He taught his diplomats their job was to create tactical and strategic advantages for the French military, while his battlefield generals were not especially good, Louis XIV had excellent support staff. His chief engineer Vauban perfected the arts of fortifying French towns, the finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert dramatically improved the financial system so that it could support an army of 250,000 men. The system deteriorated under Louis XV so that wars drained the increasingly inefficient financial system, Louis XIV made France prouder in psychology but poorer in wealth, military glory and cultural splendor were exalted above economic growth. Under Louis XIV, France fought three wars, the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg. There were also two lesser conflicts, the War of Devolution and the War of the Reunions, Louis XV did merge Lorraine and Corsica into France. However France was badly defeated in the Seven Years War and forced to give up its holdings in North America and it ceded New France to Great Britain and Louisiana to Spain, and was left with a bitter grudge that sought revenge in 1778 by helping the Americans win independence. Norman Davies characterized Louis XVs reign as one of debilitating stagnation, characterized by lost wars, a few scholars defend Louis, arguing that his highly negative reputation was based on propaganda meant to justify the French Revolution. Jerome Blum described him as a perpetual adolescent called to do a mans job, France played a key role helping the American Patriots win their War of Independence against Britain 1775–1783. Motivated by a rivalry with Britain and by revenge for its territorial losses during Seven Years War

132.
Human rights in France
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Human rights in France are contained in the preamble of the Constitution of the French Fifth Republic, founded in 1958, and the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. France has also ratified the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the European Convention on Human Rights 1960, all these international law instruments takes precedence on national legislation. However, human rights abuses take place nevertheless, the state of detention centres for unauthorized migrants who have received an order of deportation has also been criticized. During the French Revolution, deputies from the Third Estate drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, France signed and ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 as well as all Geneva Conventions. In 2010 the French government launched a programme of forced deportation of the Roma and these deportations have been heavily criticised by many human rights and international political organisations. The Council of Europe has condemned the expulsions, calling them contrary to human dignity and those who accepted to leave France received 300 euros per adult and 100 euros per child under the condition that they sign a declaration stating they will not try to come back to France. The French Government had for goal to deport 30,000 Roma in 2011, in conventional terms, France does not have censorship laws. Historically, before its repeal under François Mitterrand in the early 1980s, furthermore, other laws prohibit homophobic hate speech, and a 1970 law prohibits the advocacy of illegal drugs. There were 59 confirmed cases of violence, compared to 65 in the previous year. In April 2004, the ECHR condemned the Government for inhumane, the court ordered the Government to pay Giovanni Rivas $20,500 in damages and $13,500 in court costs. The head of the station in Saint-Denis, near Paris, was forced to resign after allegations of rape. Nine investigations concerning police abuse in police station were done in 2005 by the IGS inspection of police. The “idéal républicain” intends to achieve equality in rights between French citizens, to this end, in the national census, the collection of statistics regarding ethnicity or religion is forbidden. This has led to debate over the decline of indigenous minority languages. Antisemitic incidents were the most numerous, accounting for 950 of the incidents, anti-Maghreb incidents accounted for 563 incidents, including 162 violent acts. The Paris region was the most affected,2007 saw an overall decrease of 9% in such incidents. Before the Revolution, Standard French was spoken in only slightly more than half of the territory of France, in western Brittany, southern Flanders, Alsace-Lorraine and most of the southern half of France, local people had their own distinct cultures. Breton is a Celtic language akin to Welsh, Alsace-Lorraine was part of the German-speaking world, promotion of a local language or culture has finally been allowed, but under severe restrictions which effectively make it difficult to publish, organize classes, or media broadcasts

133.
Law of France
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In academic terms, French law can be divided into two main categories, private law and public law. This differs from the common law conception in which the main distinction is between Criminal law and Civil Law. Private law governs relationships between individuals and it includes, in particular, Civil law. This branch refers to the field of law in common law systems. This branch encompasses the fields of law, civil law, family law, property law. Commercial law Employment law Public law defines the structure and the workings of the government as well as relationships between the state and individuals, also, during the colonial era some Muslim-dominated societies began to blend the sharia legal system with the French legal system as represented in local law. As mentioned, the civil law in France refers to private law. The main body of statutes and laws governing civil law and procedure are set out in the Civil Code of France, other private law statutes are also located in other codes such as commercial code in the Code of Commerce, or copyright law in the Intellectual Property Code. However, a number of offenses, e. g. slander. Relationship between citizens and public authorities, in particular the participation of French citizens to the exercise of public powers and it fixes the hierarchy of laws and rules within the French legal system and the relationship between these different norms. In France, most claims against local or national governments are handled by the administrative courts, the main administrative courts are the tribunaux administratifs and cours administratives dappel for appeals. The French body of law is called droit administratif. The commission intended to create a dozen or so EU criminal offences, indeed, led by its then-Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs Franco Frattini - it insisted that the principle created in this decision applied to all policies, not just pollution policy. In May 2006, the Commission formally submitted to the EU Parliament, the Parliament began its consideration of the draft directive in March 2007. Introduction au droit ISBN 2-13-053181-4,127 pages One of the Que sais-je. series of pocketbook volumes, introduction to French law ISBN 1-85941-112-6. Principles of French law ISBN 0-19-876394-8, ISBN 0-19-876395-6, the French legal system 2nd ed. ISBN 0-421-53970-4. The French legal system 2nd ed. ISBN 0-406-90323-9, foreign law, current sources of codes and basic legislation in jurisdictions of the world v.24 cm. Series, AALL publications series 33, Contents v.1, ISBN 0-8377-0134-1, http, //www. foreignlawguide. com/ For both an overview and pointers toward further study, see the excellent introduction to the France section David, René

Law of France
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French system of Jurisdiction

134.
Law enforcement in France
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Law enforcement in France has a long history dating back to AD570, when night watch systems were commonplace. Policing is centralized at the national level, recently, legislation has allowed local governments to hire their own police officers which are called the police municipale. There are two police forces called Police nationale and Gendarmerie nationale. The Prefecture of Police of Paris provides policing services directly to Paris as a subdivision of Frances Ministry of the Interior, within these national forces only certain designated police officers have the power to conduct criminal investigations which are supervised by investigative magistrates. France has two police forces, The Police Nationale, formerly called the Sûreté, is considered a civilian police force. Its origins date back to 1812 and was created by Eugène François Vidocq, in 1966 its name was officially changed to Police Nationale. It has primary responsibility for cities and large urban areas. The Police Nationale are under the control of the Ministry of the Interior, the Gendarmerie Nationale is part of the French armed forces. It has the responsibility for policing smaller towns and rural areas, as well as the armed forces and military installations, airport security. Being a military force, the gendarmerie has a centralized organization structure. It is under the control of both the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior, the Gendarmeries origin dates back to 1306 C. E. when King Philippe le Bel formed the first mounted military police force called the Maréchaussée. Between 1697 and 1699, King Louis XIV asserted his authority over police in France, in February 1791 it was renamed gendarmerie nationale by the revolutionary government of France. Today there are about 105000 gendarmes in France and they have special environment law enforcement and police power that ranges from pollution, hunting, fishing, forests products to nature protection. Its strength was roughly 10,000 in 2007, only counting the National Forests Office, the municipal policemen can notice all the breaches but cannot investigate. There are also local polices in the zones, as for the rural policemen the police rurale as such does not exist. Note the heterogeneousness of local polices both in means and in equipment, Police municipale are the local police of towns and cities in France. The French municipal police are under the authority of the mayor. The Police Nationale is responsible for Paris and other urban areas whereas the gendarmerie is responsible for small towns, the existence of two national police forces with similar goals and attributions, but somewhat different zones of activity, has at times created friction or competition between the two

Law enforcement in France
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Policemen with motorcycles and a car in Strasbourg.
Law enforcement in France
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Renault Mégane of the Douanes
Law enforcement in France
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Vehicle of the municipal police of Strasbourg
Law enforcement in France
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French gendarmes

135.
French Armed Forces
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The French Armed Forces encompass the French Army, the French Navy, the French Air Force, the French National Guard and the National Gendarmerie of France. The President of the Republic heads the armed forces, with the title chef des armées, the President is the supreme authority for military matters and is the sole official who can order a nuclear strike. France maintains the tenth largest defence budget in the world and the second largest armed forces in size in the EU, France also maintains the third largest nuclear deterrent behind only Russia and the United States. The Gallo-Roman conflict predominated from 60 BC to 50 BC, with the Romans emerging victorious in the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar, after the decline of the Roman Empire, a Germanic tribe known as the Franks took control of Gaul by defeating competing tribes. The land of Francia, from which France gets its name, had points of expansion under kings Clovis I. In the Middle Ages, rivalries with England and the Holy Roman Empire prompted major conflicts such as the Norman Conquest and the Hundred Years War. The Wars of Religion crippled France in the late 16th century, in parallel, France developed its first colonial empire in Asia, Africa, and in the Americas. Resurgent French armies secured victories in dynastic conflicts against the Spanish, Polish, at the same time, France was fending off attacks on its colonies. As the 18th century advanced, global competition with Great Britain led to the Seven Years War, internal political upheaval eventually led to 23 years of nearly continuous conflict in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The rest of the 19th century witnessed the growth of the Second French colonial empire as well as French interventions in Belgium, Spain, other major wars were fought against Russia in the Crimea, Austria in Italy, and Prussia within France itself. Following defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Franco-German rivalry erupted again in the First World War, France and its allies were victorious this time. The Allies, including the government in exiles Free French Forces and later a liberated French nation, as a result, France secured an occupation zone in Germany and a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. The imperative of avoiding a third Franco-German conflict on the scale of those of two world wars paved the way for European integration starting in the 1950s. France became a power and since the 1990s its military action is most often seen in cooperation with NATO. Today, French military doctrine is based on the concepts of independence, nuclear deterrence. France is a member of NATO, and has worked actively with its allies to adapt NATO—internally. In December 1995, France announced that it would increase its participation in NATOs military wing, including the Military Committee, France remains a firm supporter of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other cooperative efforts. Paris hosted the May 1997 NATO-Russia Summit which sought the signing of the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation, France has undertaken a major restructuring to develop a professional military that will be smaller, more rapidly deployable, and better tailored for operations outside of mainland France

136.
French Parliament
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The French Parliament is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate and the National Assembly. Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at a location in Paris, the Palais du Luxembourg for the Senate. Each house has its own regulations and rules of procedure, however, they may occasionally meet as a single house, the French Congress, convened at the Palace of Versailles, to revise and amend the Constitution of France. Parliament meets for a single, nine-month session each year, under special circumstances the President can call an additional session. As a result, the government normally is from the political party as the Assembly. Rare periods during which the President is not from the political party as the Prime Minister are usually known as cohabitation. The President rather than the prime minister heads the Cabinet of Ministers, the government has a strong influence in shaping the agenda of Parliament. The government also can link its term to a text which it proposes, and unless a motion of censure is introduced and passed. However, this procedure has been limited by the 2008 constitutional amendment, Legislative initiative rests with the National Assembly. Members of Parliament enjoy parliamentary immunity, both assemblies have committees that write reports on a variety of topics. If necessary, they can establish parliamentary enquiry commissions with broad investigative power, however, the latter possibility is almost never exercised, since the majority can reject a proposition by the opposition to create an investigation commission. Since 2008, the opposition may impose the creation of a commission once a year. However, they still cant lead investigations if there is a judiciary case going on already, the word Parliament, in the modern meaning of the term, appeared in France in the 19th century, at the time of the constitutional monarchy of 1830–1848. It is never mentioned in any constitutional text until the Constitution of the 4th Republic in 1948, before that time reference was made to les Chambres or to each assembly, whatever its name, but never to a generic term as in Britain. Frank R. Baumgartner, Parliaments Capacity to Expand Political Controversy in France, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Vol.12,1, pp. 33–54 Marc Abélès, Un ethnologue à lAssemblée. An anthropological study of the French National Assembly, of its personnel, lawmakers, codes of behaviors, official website Site of the CHPP and of Parlement, Revue dhistoire politique

137.
Economy of France
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France has the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal figures and the tenth largest economy by PPP figures. It has the third-largest economy in Europe with Germany in 1st, the OECD is headquartered in Paris, the nations financial capital. The chemical industry is a key sector for France, helping to develop other manufacturing activities, Frances tourism industry is a major component of the economy, as France is the most visited destination in the world. Sophia Antipolis is the technology hub for the economy of France. According to the IMF, in 2013, France was the worlds 20th country by GDP per capita with $44,099 per inhabitant, in 2013, France was listed on the United Nationss Human Development Index with 0.884 and 25th on the Corruption Perceptions Index. Frances economy entered the recession of the late 2000s later and appeared to leave it earlier than most affected economies, with 31 of the 500 biggest companies of the world in 2015, France ranks 4th in the Fortune Global 500, behind the USA, China and Japan. Several French corporations rank amongst the largest in their industries such as AXA in insurance, luxury and consumer good are particularly relevant, with LOreal being the worlds largest cosmetic company while LVMH and PPR are the worlds two largest luxury product companies. France embarked on an ambitious and very successful programme of modernization under state coordination, the 1981 election of president François Mitterrand saw a short-lived increase in governmental control of the economy, nationalising many industries and private banks. This form of increased dirigisme, was criticised as early as 1982, by 1983, the government decided to renounce dirigisme and start an era of rigueur or corporatization. As a result, the government largely retreated from economic intervention, dirigisme has now essentially receded, the French economy grew and changed under government direction and planning much more than in other European countries. Labour conditions and wages are highly regulated, the government continues to own shares in corporations in a range of sectors, including banking, energy production and distribution, automobiles, transportation, and telecommunications. These differ from such as the US or UK where most of these companies have been privatized. In April and May 2012, France held an election in which the winner François Hollande had opposed austerity measures. French government bond interest rates fell 30% to record lows, less than 50 basis points above German government bond rates, the French government has run a budget deficit each year since the early 1970s. In mid-2012, French government debt levels reached €1,833 billion and this debt level was the equivalent of 91% of French GDP. In 2012 France was downgraded by ratings agencies Moodys, Standard&Poors, in December 2014 Frances credit rating was further downgraded by Fitch to the AA credit rating. Research and development spending is high in France at 2. 26% of GDP. Nuclear waste is stored on site at reprocessing facilities, due to its heavy investment in nuclear power, France is the smallest emitter of carbon dioxide among the seven most industrialized countries in the world

138.
Euronext Paris
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It operates the MATIF futures exchange, which trades futures and options on interest rate products and commodities, and MONEP, equity and index futures and options. All products are traded electronically on the NSC system adopted by all of the Euronext members, trading hours are 9 am to 5,30 pm CET, Monday to Friday. The French equities market is divided into three sections, the Premier Marché, formerly called the Official List, includes large French and foreign companies, and most Bond issues. The Second Marché, lists medium-sized companies, while nouveau marché lists fast-growing start up companies seeking capital to finance expansion, linked to Euro. nm, the European equity growth market. A fourth market, Marché Libre, is nonregulated, administered by Euronext Paris for transactions in securities not listed on the three markets. Euronext Paris calculates a family of indices, the CAC40 is the exchanges benchmark, desseminated in real time. Its components are included in the broader SBF120 Index, a benchmark for investment funds, the SBF250 index, a benchmark for the long-term performance of equity portfolios, includes all of the SBF120, it is structured by sector. Both indices are benchmarks for funds, the Nouveau Marché Index represents stocks in the growth market. The SBF-FCI index is based on a selection of bonds that represent at least 70% of the total capitalization of this market. For derivatives, MONEP trades short-term and long-term stock options and futures, for the fiscal year ending December 2004, Euronext Paris recorded sales of US $522 million, a −12. 9% decrease in sales from 2003. Euronext Paris has a US $2.9 trillion total market capitalization of listed companies, List of French companies CAC40 CAC Next 20 French Society of Financial Analysts Euronext Paris website MONEP website

Euronext Paris

139.
Taxation in France
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See Government of France for a wider perspective of French government. Taxation in France is determined by the budget vote by the French Parliament, which determines which kinds of taxes can be levied. In France, taxes are levied by the government, and collected by the public administrations, French public administrations are made up of three different institutions, the central government, i. e. the national government or the state strictly speaking, plus various central government bodies. It collects most of the taxes and they collect many taxes, but their weight is rather limited compared to that of central government. Social security association, private organizations endowed with a mission of public service and their budget is made up of all mandatory social security funds and the agencies financed by such funds. They are mostly financed by contributions, collected for the sole purpose of social welfare. Taxes in France are made up of taxes in the meaning of the word. Most of the taxes are collected by the government and the local collectivities, Taxes and contributions together are called in French prélèvements obligatoires. People having their tax residence in France are subject to French tax, any one of these criteria is sufficient for a person to be treated as taxable. Despite a downward trend registered since 1999, the tax burden in 2007 remains at a high level, OECD countries have experienced an increase in the tax burden since the mid-1960s comparable to that of France, rising from 25% of the GDP in 1965 to 36% in 2005. That of the countries of the European Union has increased by nearly 12 percentage points of GDP over the period. Efforts to control the increase in the tax burden have been made by the states of the OECD and this is why France continues to be among the OECD countries whose tax rate is the highest. Taxes account for 45% of GDP against 37% on average in OECD countries, the overall rate of social security and tax on the average wage in 2005 was 71. 3% of gross salary, the highest of the OECD. The levels of social security contributions are particularly high, the social security budgets are larger than the budget of the national government. The budgets of both the government and of social security organizations run deficits. There are many taxes in France and they can be classified according to the institution which collects and benefit from them and to the people who pay them. As for tariffs, they are different from taxes because of their strictly economic aspect, finally, although they are compulsory, social security contributions are not taxes as they are collected for one purpose – social protection – and as the taxpayers might benefit from these expenses. Some other taxes, based on income, are allocated to social agencies

Taxation in France
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The sumptuous main entrance of Direction régionale des finances publiques of Alsace in Strasbourg.

140.
Transport in France
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Transportation in France relies on one of the densest networks in the world with 146 km of road and 6.2 km of rail lines per 100 km2. It is built as a web with Paris at its center, rail, road, air and water are all widely developed forms of transportation in France. The first important human improvements were the Roman roads linking major settlements, all through the Middle Ages improvements were few and second rate. Transport became slow and awkward to use, the early modern period saw great improvements. There was a very quick production of canals connecting rivers and it also saw great changes in oceanic shipping. Rather than expensive galleys, wind powered ships that were faster and had more room for cargo became popular for coastal trade. Transatlantic shipping with the New World turned cities such as Nantes, Bordeaux, Cherbourg-Octeville, there is a total of 9,501 kilometres of railway in France, mostly operated by SNCF, the French national railway company. Like the road system, the French railways are subsidised by the state, the railway system is a small portion of total travel, accounting for less than 10% of passenger travel. From 1981 onwards, a constructed set of high-speed Lignes à Grande Vitesse lines linked Frances most populous areas with the capital. In 1994, the Channel Tunnel opened, connecting France and Great Britain by rail under the English Channel.8 km/h, trains, unlike road traffic, drive on the left. Metro and tramway services are not thought of as trains and usually follow road traffic in driving on the right, six cities in France currently have a rapid transit service. Full metro systems are in operation in Paris, Lyon and Marseille, light metro systems are in use in Lille, Toulouse and Rennes. Recently the tram has seen a big revival with many experiments such as ground level power supply in Bordeaux. This way of travelling started disappearing in France at the end of the 1930s, only Lille, Marseille and Saint-Étienne have never given up their tram systems. Since the 1980s, several cities have re-introduced it, each tram has two power collection skates, next to which are antennas that send radio signals to energise the power rail segments as the tram passes over them. At any one time no more than two consecutive segments under the tram should actually be live, alstrom developed the system primarily to avoid intrusive power supply cables in sensitive area of the old city of Bordeaux. Modern styling, The Eurotram, used in Strasbourg has a design that makes it look almost as much like a train as a tram. The recent Citadis-Dualis, intended to run at up to 100 km/h, is suitable for stop spacings ranging from 500 m to 5 km, dualis is a strictly modular partial low-floor car, with all doors in the low-floor sections

Transport in France
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Two high-speed TGV trains at Paris-Gare de l'Est
Transport in France
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Travel times by road in Metropolitan France from Paris
Transport in France
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A high-speed double-decker TGV train in Toulon
Transport in France
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A section of APS track in Bordeaux with powered and neutral sections

141.
Crime in France
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Crime in France is combated by a range of French law enforcement agencies. In 2012, France had a rate of 1.0 per 100,000 population. Which is typical of Europe and about one fifth that in the United States, there were a total of 665 murders in France in 2012. In 1971, the rate stood at 2.0 per 100,000 people. In 2009, it stood at 16.2, some of the increase is likely due to better reporting. According to a 2012 report, about 75,000 rapes take place each year, according to a 2014 article, about 5,000 to 7,000 of the rapes are gang rapes. The Milieu is a category of organized criminals operating in France and these groups are quite often not ethnically French. Criminal groups associated with the Milieu work in major city in France, but are mostly concentrated in Marseille, Grenoble, Paris. In 2011, Transparency International concluded in its report for 2011 that France does not do enough to stop corruption. A TNS Sofres poll in October 2011 indicated that 72% of the French public had the perception that politicians are corrupt, in August 2012 the French Government announced the creation of fifteen Priority Security Zones in an effort to target crime hotspots. Extra police, riot police, detectives and members of the services are to be mobilised. Social services, educational bodies and charities also put resources into the selected areas. Violent crime is relatively uncommon in the city center, pickpockets are the most significant problem and are commonly children under the age of 16 because they are difficult to prosecute. Pickpockets are very active on the link from Charles de Gaulle Airport to the city center. You can also dial the Europe-wide emergency response number 112 to reach an operator for all kinds of emergency services, non-French speakers may experience a delay while an English speaker is located. In 2010, French interior minister Brice Hortefeux said that 85% of gang members in France were around Paris, in 2014, Thousands of demonstrators protested the Israeli-Gaza Conflict for over a week. During several instances rioters shouted anti-Semitic chants and attacked Jews while ransacking Jewish Synagogues, large demonstrations in Paris are generally managed by a strong police presence, but such events have the potential to become dangerous and should be avoided. In addition, the caused by large demonstrations can cause serious inconveniences for a visitor on a tight schedule

142.
Demographics of France
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The demography of France is monitored by the Institut national détudes démographiques and the Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques. As of the 1 January 2017, almost 67 million people lived in the French Republic, including all the five overseas departments,64,859,000 of these lived in Metropolitan France, the part of France located in Europe. In March 2017 the population of France officially reached the 67 million mark, the 66 million mark was reached in the beginning of 2014. The population of France is growing with 1 million people every 3 years, for an average annual growth of 340,000 people, or a grow rate of +0, 6%. France was historically Europes most populous nation, during the Middle Ages, more than one quarter of Europes total population was French, by the 17th century, this had decreased slightly to one fifth. By the beginning of the 20th century, other European nations, such as Germany and Russia, had caught up with, however, the countrys population sharply increased with the baby boom following World War II. According to INSEE, since 2004,200,000 immigrants entered annually into the country, one out of two was born in Europe and one in three in Africa. Between 2009 and 2012, the number of Europeans entering France increased sharply, the national birth rate, after dropping for a time, began to rebound in the 1990s and currently the countrys fertility rate is close to the replacement level. According to a 2006 INSEE study, The natural increase is close to 300,000 people, a level that has not been reached in more than thirty years. Among the 802,000 newborns in metropolitan France in 2010,80. 1% had two French parents,13. 3% had one French parent, and 6. 6% had two non-French parents. For the same year,27. 3% of newborns in metropolitan France had at least one parent and 23. 9% had at least one parent born outside of Europe. Between 2006 and 2008, about 40% of newborns in France had one foreign-born grandparent, racial and ethnic censuses have been banned by the French government since 1978, since the term race in France invokes associations with Nazi Germany. France was historically the largest nation in Europe, during the Middle Ages more than one quarter of Europes population was French, by the 17th century it was still one fifth. Starting around 1800, the evolution of the population in France has been atypical in Europe. Unlike the rest of Europe, there was no population growth in France in the 19th. The birth rate in France diminished much earlier than in the rest of Europe, the slow growth of Frances population in the 19th century was reflected in the countrys very low emigration rate. The French population only grew by 8. 6% between 1871 and 1911, while Germanys grew by 60% and Britains by 54%, ferdinand Foch joked that the only way for France to permanently improve its relationship with Germany was to castrate 20 million Germans. If Frances population had grown at the rate as that of England

Demographics of France
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With a total fertility rate of 2.01 (in 2012), France is the most fertile country in the European Union, similar to the Republic of Ireland.
Demographics of France
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Two centuries of population growth

143.
Education in France
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The French educational system is highly centralized and organized, with many subdivisions. It is divided into the three stages of enseignement primaire, enseignement secondaire, and enseignement supérieur, in French higher education, the following degrees are recognized by the Bologna Process, Licence and Licence Professionnelle, and the comparably named Master and Doctorat degrees. While the French trace the development of their system to Napoléon. Jules Ferry, a Minister of Public Instruction in the 1880s, is credited for creating the modern school by requiring all children between the ages of 6 and 12, both boys and girls, to attend. He also made public instruction mandatory, free of charge, with these laws, known as French Lubbers, Jules Ferry laws, and several others, the Third Republic repealed most of the Falloux Laws of 1850–1851, which gave an important role to the clergy. All educational programmes in France are regulated by the Ministry of National Education, the head of the ministry is the Minister of National Education. The teachers in primary and secondary schools are all state civil servants. Professors and researchers in Frances universities are also employed by the state, at the primary and secondary levels, the curriculum is the same for all French students in any given grade, which includes public, semi-public and subsidised institutions. However, there exist specialised sections and a variety of options that students can choose, the reference for all French educators is the Bulletin officiel de léducation nationale, de lenseignement supérieur et de la recherche which lists all current programmes and teaching directives. It is amended many times every year, in the Metropolitan territory, the school year extends from early September to early July. The school calendar is standardized throughout the country, and is the domain of the ministry. In May schools need time to organise the exams, in the overseas departments and territories of France, the school calendar is set by the local recteur. Schooling in France is mandatory from age 6, the first year of primary school, most parents start sending their children at age 3, at kindergarten classes, which are usually affiliated to a boroughs primary school. Some even start earlier at age 2 in pré-maternelle or très petite section classes, the last year of kindergarten, grande section is an important step in the educational process, as it is the year in which pupils are introduced to reading. After kindergarten, the students move on to primary school. It is in the first year that they learn to write. Note that the French word for a teacher at the school level is maître or its feminine form maîtresse. Pupils are prepared for the baccalauréat, the baccalauréat can lead to higher education studies or directly to professional life

Education in France
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Jules Ferry
Education in France
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School system in France

144.
Health care in France
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The French health care system is one of universal health care largely financed by government national health insurance. In its 2000 assessment of health care systems, the World Health Organization found that France provided the close to best overall health care in the world. In 2011, France spent 11. 6% of GDP on health care, or US$4,086 per capita, approximately 77% of health expenditures are covered by government funded agencies. Most general physicians are in practice but draw their income from the public insurance funds. These funds, unlike their German counterparts, have never gained self-management responsibility, instead, the government has taken responsibility for the financial and operational management of health insurance. The French government generally refunds patients 70% of most health care costs, supplemental coverage may be bought from private insurers, most of them nonprofit, mutual insurers. Only about 3. 7% of hospital treatment costs are reimbursed through private insurance, there are public hospitals, non-profit independent hospitals, as well as private for-profit hospitals. France 1871–1914 followed well behind Bismarckian Germany, as well as Great Britain, in developing the state including public health. Tuberculosis was the most dreaded disease of the day, especially striking young people in their 20s, Germany set up vigorous measures of public hygiene and public sanatoria, but France let private physicians handle the problem, which left it with a much higher death rate. The French medical profession jealously guarded its prerogatives, and public health activists were not as organized or as influential as in Germany. However the reformers met opposition from bureaucrats, politicians, and physicians, because it was so threatening to so many interests, the proposal was debated and postponed for 20 years before becoming law in 1902. Success finally came when the government realized that contagious diseases had a national security impact in weakening military recruits, the current system has undergone several changes since its foundation in 1945, though the basis of the system remains state planned and operated. Jean de Kervasdoué, a health economist, believes that French medicine is of quality and is the only credible alternative to the Americanization of world medicine. According to Kervasdoué, Frances surgeons, clinicians, psychiatrists, however, despite this, Kervasdoué criticizes the fact that hospitals must comply with 43 bodies of regulation and the nit-picking bureaucracy that can be found in the system. Kervasdoué believes that the state too much in regulating the daily functions of French hospitals. Furthermore, Japan, Sweden, and the Netherlands have health care systems with performance to that of Frances. According to various experts, the state of the French social security systems finances is causing the growth of Frances health care expenses. The entire population must pay compulsory health insurance, the insurers are non-profit agencies that annually participate in negotiations with the state regarding the overall funding of health care in France

Health care in France
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The reduction in infant mortality between 1960 and 2008 for France in comparison with Ireland, Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Health care in France
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Total health spending per capita, in U.S. dollars PPP-adjusted, of France compared amongst various other first world nations.
Health care in France
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Private Ambulance in Pontarlier
Health care in France
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Total health spending as a percentage of GDP for France compared amongst various other first world nations from 2005 to 2008

145.
French people
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The French are an ethnic group and nation who are identified with the country of France. This connection may be legal, historical, or cultural, modern French society can be considered a melting pot. To be French, according to the first article of the French Constitution, is to be a citizen of France, regardless of origin, race. The debate concerning the integration of this view with the underlying the European Community remains open. A large number of foreigners have traditionally been permitted to live in France, indeed, the country has long valued its openness, tolerance and the quality of services available. Application for French citizenship is often interpreted as a renunciation of previous state allegiance unless a dual citizenship agreement exists between the two countries, the European treaties have formally permitted movement and European citizens enjoy formal rights to employment in the state sector. Seeing itself as a nation with universal values, France has always valued. However, the success of such assimilation has recently called into question. There is increasing dissatisfaction with, and within, growing ethno-cultural enclaves, the 2005 French riots in some troubled and impoverished suburbs were an example of such tensions. However they should not be interpreted as ethnic conflicts but as social conflicts born out of socioeconomic problems endangering proper integration, the name France etymologically derives from the word Francia, the territory of the Franks. The Franks were a Germanic tribe that overran Roman Gaul at the end of the Roman Empire, in the pre-Roman era, all of Gaul was inhabited by a variety of peoples who were known collectively as the Gaulish tribes. Gaul was militarily conquered in 58-51 BCE by the Roman legions under the command of General Julius Caesar, the area then became part of the Roman Empire. Over the next five centuries the two cultures intermingled, creating a hybridized Gallo-Roman culture, the Gaulish vernacular language disappeared step by step to be replaced everywhere by Vulgar Latin, which would later develop under Frankish influence into the French language in the North of France. With the decline of the Roman Empire in Western Europe, a federation of Germanic peoples entered the picture, the Franks were Germanic pagans who began to settle in northern Gaul as laeti, already during the Roman era. They continued to filter across the Rhine River from present-day Netherlands, at the beginning, they served in the Roman army and reached high commands. Their language is spoken as a kind of Dutch in northern France. Another Germanic people immigrated massively to Alsace, the Alamans, which explains the Alemannic German spoken there and they were competitors of the Franks, thats why it became at the Renaissance time the word for German in French, Allemand. By the early 6th century the Franks, led by the Merovingian king Clovis I and his sons, had consolidated their hold on much of modern-day France, the Vikings eventually intermarried with the local people, converting to Christianity in the process

146.
French cuisine
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French cuisine consists of the cooking traditions and practices from France. In the 14th century Guillaume Tirel, a chef known as Taillevent, wrote Le Viandier. During that time, French cuisine was influenced by Italian cuisine. Cheese and wine are a part of the cuisine. They play different roles regionally and nationally, with many variations, gastro-tourism and the Guide Michelin helped to acquaint people with the rich bourgeois and peasant cuisine of the French countryside starting in the 20th century. Gascon cuisine has also had influence over the cuisine in the southwest of France. Many dishes that were once regional have proliferated in variations across the country, knowledge of French cooking has contributed significantly to Western cuisines. Its criteria are used widely in Western cookery school boards and culinary education, in November 2010, French gastronomy was added by the UNESCO to its lists of the worlds intangible cultural heritage. In French medieval cuisine, banquets were common among the aristocracy, multiple courses would be prepared, but served in a style called service en confusion, or all at once. Food was generally eaten by hand, meats being sliced off in large pieces held between the thumb and two fingers, the sauces were highly seasoned and thick, and heavily flavored mustards were used. Meals often ended with an issue de table, which changed into the modern dessert. The ingredients of the time varied according to the seasons and the church calendar, and many items were preserved with salt, spices, honey. Late spring, summer, and autumn afforded abundance, while winter meals were more sparse, livestock were slaughtered at the beginning of winter. Beef was often salted, while pork was salted and smoked, bacon and sausages would be smoked in the chimney, while the tongue and hams were brined and dried. Cucumbers were brined as well, while greens would be packed in jars with salt, fruits, nuts and root vegetables would be boiled in honey for preservation. Whale, dolphin and porpoise were considered fish, so during Lent, artificial freshwater ponds held carp, pike, tench, bream, eel, and other fish. Poultry was kept in yards, with pigeon and squab being reserved for the elite. Game was highly prized, but very rare, and included venison, wild boar, hare, rabbit, kitchen gardens provided herbs, including some, such as tansy, rue, pennyroyal, and hyssop, which are rarely used today

147.
French fashion
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France is a leading country in the fashion design industry, along with Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and the United States. Fashion is an important part of the cultural life and society. Haute couture and the prêt-à-porter, among other styles, remain part of French traditional life. French design became prominent during the 15th century through today, the fashion industry has been an important cultural export of France since the 17th century and the modern haute couture where originated in the 1860s. Paris acts as the center of the fashion industry. Along with New York City, London and Milan, it is considered a fashion capital. Paris is home to many fashion designers including Chanel, Pierre Cardin, Céline, Chloe, Dior, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, Hermès, Lanvin, Rochas, Vuitton. Many French cities, including Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Lille, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Nantes and Rennes, host important luxury districts, in recent centuries, these cities have transformed into developed cities and are heavy producers and costumers of luxury goods. Over his lifetime, Louis commissioned numerous works of art to portray himself, the earliest portrayals of Louis already followed the pictorial conventions of the day in depicting the child king as the majestically royal incarnation of France. This idealisation of the monarch continued in works, which avoided depictions of the effect of the smallpox that Louis contracted in 1647. The depiction of the King in this manner focused on allegorical or mythological attributes, as Louis aged, so too did the manner in which he was depicted. Nonetheless, there was still a disparity between realistic representation and the demands of royal propaganda, Rigauds portrait exemplified the height of royal portraiture in Louiss reign. Although Rigaud crafted a likeness of Louis, the portrait was neither meant as an exercise in realism nor to explore Louiss personal character. Certainly, Rigaud was concerned with detail and depicted the Kings costume with great precision, however, Rigauds intention was to glorify the monarchy. Rigauds original, now housed in the Louvre, was meant as a gift to Louiss grandson. However, Louis was so pleased with the work that he kept the original and that became the first of many copies, both in full and half-length formats, to be made by Rigaud, often with the help of his assistants. The portrait also became a model for French royal and imperial portraiture down to the time of Charles X over a century later, Louis XIV notably introduced one of the most noticeable feature of the mens costume of the time, immense wigs of curled hair. A commonly held belief is that Louis XIV started to wear due to balding

148.
Remarkable Gardens of France
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The complete list of gardens can be found on, site of the Comité des Parcs et Jardins. Small private modern romantic floral garden, Kintzheim - The Park of Ruins of the Château de Kintzheim. An early 19th century romantic landscape garden, Kolbsheim - The Garden of the Château de Kolbsheim. French garden and English landscape park, Ottrott - Le Domaine de Windeck. Romantic landscape park, with views of the castle of Ottrott. Plobsheim - Le Jardin de Marguerite, small private English secret garden in the Alsatian village of Plobsheim. Saverne - Jardin botanique du col de Saverne, Botanical garden in an enclave in the Vosges Forest. Strasbourg - Jardin botanique de lUniversité de Strasbourg, founded in 1619, the second-oldest botanical garden in France. Uttenhoffen - Jardin de la Ferme Bleue, modern garden on the site of a 17th-century farm. Guebwiller - Parc de la Marseillaise, public arboretum and botanical garden, designed by Édouard André between 1897 and 1899. Husseren-Wesserling - Parc de Wesserling Private garden at the site of a lodge of the prince-abbey of Murbach. Formal French garden, flower garden, kitchen garden, field garden, Mulhouse - Parc Zoologique et Botanique de Mulhouse. Public botanical gardens and zoo, English landscape park, Created in 1935 by Paris landscape architect Achille Duchêne, stairways connecting the different parts of the garden, and tree-shaded allées. Domme - Park and Boxwood Garden of the Château de Caudon, a garden à la française and French landscape garden, created between 1808 and 1814 by the Marquis Jacques de Malville, one of the authors of the French Civil Code. See pictures Eymet - Park and Kitchen Garden of Pouthet, Hautefort - Gardens of the Château de Hautefort. The château was reconstructed in the 17th century, and embellished with a garden à la française, next to the formal gardens is a hill with an Italian garden with winding shaded paths. Notable trees in the include a Magnolia grandiflora and a Cedar of Lebanon. Le Buisson-de-Cadouin - Garden of Planbuisson, the garden presents two hundred and sixty four different types of bamboo, from dwarf bamboo to giant, as well as exotic trees, such as Paulownia fortunei

Remarkable Gardens of France
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Sign indicating one of the Remarkable Gardens of France, listed by the Committee of Parks and Gardens of the French Ministry of Culture
Remarkable Gardens of France
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Gardens of the Château of Versailles (Île-de-France), Parterre du Midi
Remarkable Gardens of France
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Gardens of the Château de Villandry (Indre-et-Loire), Salon de Musique
Remarkable Gardens of France
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Manoir of Eyrignac (Dordogne)

149.
Languages of France
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The languages of France include the French language and some regional languages. The French language is the official language of France according to the second article of the French Constitution. Several regional languages are spoken to varying degrees as a secondary language after French, such as German dialects, Celtic languages. Some of these languages have also spoken in neighbouring countries, such as Belgium, Germany, Switzerland. The official language of the French Republic is French and the French government is, by law, the government, furthermore, mandates that commercial advertising be available in French, see Toubon Law. The French government, however, does not mandate the use of French by private individuals or corporations or in any other media, a revision of the French constitution creating official recognition of regional languages was implemented by the Parliament in Congress at Versailles in July 2008. 24 of those languages are indigenous to the European territory of the state all the others are from overseas areas of the French Republic. The category of languages of France is thus administratively recognised even if this does not go so far as to any official status. Following his election as President, François Hollande reasserted in 2012 his campaign platform to ratify the European Charter, the regional languages of France are sometimes called patois, but this term is often considered derogatory. The topic of the teaching of languages in public primary and secondary schools is controversial. Proponents of the state that it would be necessary for the preservation of those languages. Opponents contend that local languages are often non-standardised, of practical usefulness. The topic also leads to wider questions of autonomy of the régions. Regarding other languages, English, Spanish, Italian and German are the most commonly studied languages in French schools. Some of the languages of France are also languages, some of which enjoy a recognised or official status in the respective neighbouring state or territory. French itself is also a language, being spoken in neighbouring Andorra, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco. A large number of immigrant languages are spoken in France, with a handful having a significant number of home speakers, berber the language of North Africans is one of the most spoken languages in France, about 2,200,000 speakers. Maghrebi Arabic, is the most common language in French homes

150.
French literature
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This article is a general introduction to French literature. For detailed information on French literature in specific periods, see the separate historical articles in the template to the right. Literature written in French language, by citizens of nations such as Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, Senegal, Algeria, Morocco. As of 2006, French writers have been awarded more Nobel Prizes in Literature than novelists, poets and essayists of any other country, France itself ranks first in the list of Nobel Prizes in literature by country. French literature has been for French people an object of pride for centuries. The French language is a dialect derived from Latin and heavily influenced principally by Celtic. Today, French schools emphasize the study of novels, theater, the literary arts are heavily sponsored by the state and literary prizes are major news. The Académie française and the Institut de France are important linguistic and artistic institutions in France, Literature matters deeply to the people of France and plays an important role in their sense of identity. As of 2006, French literary people have been awarded more Nobel Prizes in Literature than novelists, poets and essayists of any other country, a writer must refuse to allow himself to be transformed into an institution, even if it takes place in the most honorable form. For most of the 20th century, French authors had more Literature Nobel Prizes than those of any other nation. M. G, le Clézio 2014 – Patrick Modiano Grand Prix de Littérature Policière – created in 1948, for crime and detective fiction. Grand Prix du roman de lAcadémie française – created 1918, Prix Décembre – created in 1989. Prix Femina – created 1904, decided each year by an exclusively female jury, Prix Goncourt – created 1903, given to the author of the best and most imaginative prose work of the year. Prix Goncourt des Lycéens – created in 1987, Prix Littéraire Valery Larbaud – created in 1957. Prix Médicis – created 1958, awarded to an author whose fame does not yet match their talent, Prix Renaudot – created in 1926. Prix Tour-Apollo Award – 1972–1990, given to the best science fiction published in French during the preceding year. Prix des Deux Magots – created in 1933, a short history of French literature Burgwinkle, William, Nicholas Hammond, and Emma Wilson, eds. The Cambridge history of French literature Cobb, Richard, Promenades, an appreciation of modern French literature Harvey, Paul. The Oxford companion to French literature Denis Hollier, ed, a New History of French Literature, Harvard University Press,1989,1150 pp. France, Peter